Awakening
by Tim Nolan
Summary: An account of the beginning of Sailor Venus' time as a Senshi.
1. Default Chapter Title

Awakening, part 1 {1/1}  
  
  
A Sailor Moon story by Tim Nolan  
e-mail: nomad@cyberverse.com  
  
Please see comments following the story.  
  
Awakening  
  
part 1  
  
  
" Yes, Lieutenant?"  
" Azarite reporting, sir."  
Kunzite put aside the reports he was reading and leaned back   
in his favorite couch in the quarters he shared with Zoisite while   
he studied the younger man. He knew Zoisite didn't like his doing   
business in their quarters, but he refused to do any serious work   
in the spy infested military compounds.   
Azarite looked more like a clerk than a warrior, with his   
short brown hair and serious expression. His only concession to   
fashion or individuality was the well-tailored uniform with a   
smart looking black half-cloak that saved him from looking too   
plain. The lieutenant was one of the few survivors of the attack   
on the Moon Kingdom and one of the rising stars among Kunzite's   
sub-commanders since the emergence of his abilities as a mage   
a few centuries ago. That's probably because he learned to   
survive by thinking instead of relying on any powers, he   
thought to himself. I wish I had more who did that than being   
barely one step better than the youma.  
" I have just received an assignment from Queen Beryl,"   
Kunzite said with a wry smile. " The magi in the research branch   
have finally managed to stabilize a portal to Earth."  
" You mean it only took them 13 years, sir," Azarite   
responded with a tight grin. " I'm still glad you pulled me   
out of there after my abilities began to manifest. I'd have   
died of shame being in an outfit that took that long to do   
such a simple task."  
" They had the Queens' favor at that time and were   
able to swing what they thought was a soft assignment that   
would leave them covered in glory. The only swinging that they   
will be doing soon is from the end of a rope. Her Majesty was   
not pleased with their lack of progress," Kunzite replied,   
grinning at the thought of those pompous asses in Research   
getting their just rewards. " Remember this in regards with the   
Queen; don't volunteer and then fail her. Pass this tale on   
to the other lieutenants. Maybe they will learn something from it.  
" Her Majesty has commanded me to begin scouting operations   
on Earth. They are to concentrate on two locations. The islands   
the inhabitants call England and Japan. You've read the information   
packet that was sent to you. Tell me why she chose those areas."  
Azarite thought for a few moments, recalling the facts he   
had gleaned from the initial contact reports. " Those two   
islands are small enough in size for the gate spells to be accurate   
as the accuracy depends on the size of the targeted land mass. If   
we tried to hit one of the large continents, we could be tens to   
hundreds of their kilometers off target.   
" Second, they have a large enough population base to   
support mass energy draining operations once those operations   
get under way; and their military forces are small enough   
for us to deal with using conventional weapons if our normal   
tactics and strategies don't work. I assume the third is the   
scans for magic resources, although my packet did not have   
that," he finished, fishing for a third good reason to impress   
the general. The four of them knew far more about the situation   
regarding Earth and volumes more on strategy and deception than   
the junior officers under them. There was a good reason that there   
were so few captains serving the generals. The four were   
perfectionists about their staffs and were notorious for promoting   
only for ability, and not connections or bribes. That was   
also why they ran so many important operations themselves.   
Kunzite watched the lieutenant for a few more moments   
calculated to make the other just begin to sweat. " Short and   
accurate, Lt. Azarite. The magic resources are the deciding   
point on this." He pulled out a chart and handed it over. " There   
are two major concentrations of magic present on the planet. Queen   
Beryl would much prefer taking those two over the slower process of   
the mass draining. Either source should just be about enough   
to awaken Queen Metallia and allow Beryl to smash her way out of   
here like the bindings placed by Serenity were so much wet paper.   
" The sources in England are concentrated in two major   
points. The other, in Japan, is the more difficult to pinpoint.   
It doesn't seem as to be concentrated, instead it seems to be a   
very high level of background energy. I don't think Japan will   
be of much use, so I want you to work the area of England. Send   
your second to Japan with a smaller force to see if they can get   
any results."  
Kunzite then gave the younger man the grin Azarite had   
hoped to avoid. " I plan on making this an interesting assignment   
for you, Azarite. You have a simple mission: get information and   
energy samples from the local humans. Just to make it more   
challenging, I'm sending Drake along with your squad. If we can   
ever get him to start thinking before smashing things, he will be   
a valuable resource. You get to give it a try.  
" Your other interesting factor is that Zoisite is   
insisting on sending one of his 2nd Lieutenants along so he can   
be represented in this and not miss out on the action. He   
has assigned Beld to the mission. She is a telepath and telekinetic,   
so her abilities should be useful in Japan if there is something   
hidden there. The problem, according to Zoisite, is that she is a   
sadist who enjoys inflicting pain with her gifts just because   
she can. Show me you can handle this bunch and complete the   
assignment to Beryl's satisfaction, and I just might bump you   
up to captain," Kunzite finished. " If nothing else, you will   
be on the fast track for that position. Dismissed."  
  
**********************************************************   
  
Azarite walked into the briefing room as the occupants   
rose and saluted with crisp efficiency. They all wore the   
simple gray tunics and trousers of the military forces, along   
with brown boots made from hides. Most kept the personalized   
adornments to a minimum as they were only second lieutenants.   
The only real exception was the strikingly exotic young woman   
with long, braided blue hair and the insignia of Zoisite's forces.   
Her uniform was set off by a bright red sash and gold in place   
of the metals that normally made the buckles and snaps. This must   
be Beld, Azarite said to himself. She's beautiful, but just   
doesn't look right, he decided from the cruel cast of her   
features. Sort of blighted, like a rose grown in poor   
conditions and harsh environs. He also realized that she   
would be a tough one to control on this mission from that   
look on her face, nor would it do any good to tell her of   
her problems. Besides, he thought wryly to himself, she isn't   
old enough to remember roses. He did.  
" At ease, troopers. We have been assigned to a recon   
and information gathering mission by Lord Kunzite. These   
operations will be conducted on the Earth in two   
locations. We will traverse the dimensional gate to the base   
camp set up in the polar regions. From there, we will be using   
regular gates to reach the operation area. You will be dropped   
off and pick up will be several hours later by gates. We are   
not able to keep these up for the length of the missions, so   
do not miss the pick-up. The exact assignments and schedules   
will be given to you later.  
" These are not difficult tasks. All you will be   
doing is going to your target area and wandering around   
for several hours. The crystals you will be given will handle   
the sampling of energies in your area. They can also be   
used to drain energy from the humans. You are not to use   
them as such. Your job is to not, I repeat, not get involved   
with the inhabitants in any way that might alarm them. We   
still don't know enough about them to risk any engagements   
right now. All you have to do is observe and write up your   
findings later on. The translation pendants will facilitate   
your work with the language."   
" Sir, wouldn't it be more effective for me to probe   
some of the locals for information?" Beld interjected. " It   
would be far more effective and quick than this cautious   
approach."   
Azarite took a breath to keep his temper from flaring   
up and decided to nip this in the bud at once. He did not   
want her challenge to have a chance to even linger in   
the mind of his squad.   
" These orders came directly from Lord Kunzite, who   
was given them By Her Majesty, Queen Beryl. Perhaps you   
would like to discuss these issues with her, Second Lieutenant   
Beld?" he said, laying on what he thought was just enough   
sarcasm to back her down but not outright antagonize her. He   
for one did not want a telepath too angry with him.  
" No, Sir," she replied, somewhat chastened.   
Azarite surveyed the group for any other signs of   
dissent or disagreement, aside for Drake's look of boredom.   
That one was just waiting for an opportunity for a good   
fight and was hoping an earthling could give it to him, he   
decided.  
" All right, then. We form up for the first gate at the   
barracks in two hours. Standard equipment packs will not be   
required for this mission, so you all have a few moments to   
prepare for this. That is all."   
He saluted, turned sharply, and left the room.  
  
*********************************************************   
  
Beld was still furious as she stalked through the streets   
of Tokyo, ignoring the stares from passers-by as they looked at   
the distinctive figure she cut among them. I'll show that bastard   
of a lieutenant, she swore to herself. Nobody puts me down like   
that and lives. I'll rip out his soul piece by piece and feed it   
to a youma as he watches.   
After several more minutes of cursing where she only   
repeated herself once, she finally started thinking about her   
assignment here. She still had to do it right so she would not   
get in trouble while she plotted and enacted her vengeance on   
Azarite. She looked about for a few minutes, studying the   
crowds and looking for a good target.   
There, she thought to herself. She slashed into the young   
man's mind with her talent and seized the sections regarding the   
surrounding area and the concept of charts and maps. She then tore   
her way out and made her way to a nearby store that dealt in maps   
and tourism information. Behind her, the young man collapsed onto   
the ground as his mind went into shock from the breakage of memory   
chains in his mind.  
She went into the shop and browsed through it for a few   
minutes and selected several good atlases of Japan and England,   
as well as the rest of the world. She threw in a stack of   
information books on the two countries as well that were designed   
for tourists. These ought to show him up, she thought. Let him try   
to give me a hassle when I'm getting all of this information abut   
the target area.   
It only took a moments work to brush her mind across that   
of the cashier and convince her that she had paid for these items.   
She also made her ignore the fact that several small stacks of   
currency floated out of the register and into Belds' hand,   
and with another touch of her mind the cashier was kind enough   
to throw in an expensive book bag to carry all of her items in.   
Now for a bit of fun, she decided.  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Something had happened, she decided. Something had happened   
about twenty one orbits ago. She was not as fast at analyzing   
things as her swifter sibling who was first out from the center,   
but she had a truer picture of their minds, and more importantly,   
their hearts.   
She had been born a very long time ago by any standards,   
in a system far removed from the galactic core. She was second   
out from the center and had nine other siblings who came into   
being around the same time as her, so to speak. She had come to   
a limited form of awareness, but had never even thought that there   
were others like her. They felt the same way, she later found out.  
It was the cries of suffering from one of her sisters that   
alerted them to each other. In her pain, she reached the conclusion   
that there _may_ be something besides herself. She had tried to   
form too close to her largest brother, and the mistake had   
proved fatal. There was nothing they could do except watch her   
slow, painful death as she was ripped apart by his mere presence.  
This did not make them sad, however. They had learned of   
each other from this, and promised the dying one that she would   
be remembered forever for giving them the glorious gift of   
togetherness that they now shared. They continued their contemplation,   
but now conversed with each other and remembered their sister.  
Her sister who was third out brought them surprising news   
after more time had passed. She had discovered new things upon   
her. Small things that died soon after their birth, but made   
copies of themselves before their death. They marveled at this   
and celebrated the diversity of this thing called life.  
Even more pleasing was the form of life called humans   
that became predominant.The humans did something they had not   
expected. The humans slowly spread to the other siblings after   
reaching the child of the third one out from the center. The   
siblings came to love the humans and grew protective of them.   
They all agreed to hide their presence from the humans   
and only let them see their physical forms so as to not hinder   
their growth. They instead successively empowered a small group   
of humans to be their avatars and help guide and protect their   
humans. The only exception to this was the third one out. She   
had so much life in abundance on her that she could not choose   
to help one type over the others.  
The siblings were happy for a brief time. Suddenly, in a   
struggle between the humans, they suddenly lost contact with all   
the avatars, save one. Much of their essence had gone into their   
avatars, and they lacked the power to protect the humans who were   
not on the third one out.  
The loss of their inhabitants troubled them. The furthest   
one out then spoke up. The others listened, for he was wise and   
patient. He counseled them to wait for a time. His avatar still   
lived, and might restore the others. They agreed to bide their time,   
and dropped into a deep slumber to conserve their dwindled energies.   
This was some 1600 orbits ago for her. Something had happened   
recently. It had been so long since she had stirred that she   
had been very slow to wake and realize what she thought she   
had felt. Her sleep would be lighter now. She had to listen   
for something. It was for only the tiniest fraction of a   
moment, but she thought she had heard her avatar.  
  
*********************************************************  
  
It took her an hour of wandering around and searching   
for a suitable candidate while she entertained herself with   
a few minor tricks of telekinesis and telepathy. A dropped   
and broken package here, a choice thought suddenly vocalized   
against a person's will there, and dissension ruled in her   
wake. Her new prey, however, was easily going to be far more   
entertaining and satisfying.   
The new mother practically radiated her uncertainty in   
dealing with her infant. It was so strong she couldn't tell   
why the natives couldn't pick it up, even at their lack of   
talent. It was a simple mental nudge of a leg that caused the   
mother to trip and sent the stroller out into the busy traffic.   
The results were predictable. Screams of alarm and anguish rang   
out and the sound of several cars colliding resounded in the air.   
Beld had long since established a link to the woman   
and rejoiced in the feelings of guilt and despair she had   
caused. This was far better than the finest wines, in   
her opinion. Nothing could compare to feeling this from her.   
She didn't even have to try and make the sobbing woman feel   
that it was her fault; her sense of shame and grief were   
already doing a wonderful job of convincing her subconscious.   
She studied the mind she was linked to for a few moments   
more to fix the pattern in her mind. She then severed the link   
so gently as to not even make the slightest disturbance. She   
simply would have to return later and see what the results of her   
handiwork were. But for now, she left and walked back to the   
recall site, humming contentedly to herself.  
  
************************************************************  
  
Damn, the young woman said to herself. She turned away   
from the tragic scene so quickly her hair flared about her, a   
green so dark as to practically be black. She studied the face   
and odd gray clothing of the only person to walk away from the   
sight of the accident with a smile on her face as the blue-haired   
woman walked past her and into the distance.   
After several more minutes had passed, she went to a   
coffee shop that had opened recently. The waitress brought her   
order over after a few minutes and she relaxed into the cushions   
of the booth. The sounds from the arcade downstairs were barely   
noticed as she thought about the situation. She didn't have time   
for this. There were too many things that required her personal   
attentions right now. The sight of the gray clothing was a sign   
to her that she was correct in her earlier assumptions. The problem   
was in how to deal with it. She could not deal with it by   
herself, as much as she would have liked to. I can't have   
too many irons in the fire at once, she said to herself.   
An hour was spent juggling the possibilities, and then   
a course of action was decided on. She reached out to her   
right and took hold of a staff that suddenly was there, although   
none in the cafe seemed to notice it. The red orb at the top of   
the staff glowed faintly as she visualized two objects in her   
mind. They still had not fully adjusted to this time and would   
still be traceable for about another year at the most. One was   
still moving towards this area, but the other was still in the   
same general physical location that it had occupied for about   
four years. It looked like one of the hunters had found prey. It   
was time to give it a nudge.   
  
************************************************************   
  
The two figures emerged from the thick fog of a London   
night. One was of medium height and build. The other looked   
more like a giant than a man, standing slightly over two meters   
with broad shoulders and powerful limbs. As he stumbled   
out of a pub and looked blearily at the two, a half-drunken patron  
of said establishment called out to the large man.  
" Let me know what football team your rooting for in   
the match 'tween Arsenal and Manchester, mate. I'd hate to   
be wearing the wrong colors if your team lost."  
A deep voice rumbled back. " Arsenal. They have a better   
sounding name. Now, leave us and get out of here." The larger   
of the two took a step towards the drunk, who went pale and   
quickly left the two alone as he hurried back to the pub. He   
turned back to the smaller man as they returned to their walking.   
" Would you mind if I stuck around for this 'match' that   
he mentioned, Lieutenant? It sounds like there might be a fight   
as a result of it and it could give me a chance to get some first   
hand experiences of how these people fight each other."  
"Sorry, Drake, but I think you are just looking for a   
fight and coming up with an excuse," Azarite responded with   
a chuckle. " Besides, I don' think that this planet offers a   
person who could give you a real workout. I don't even know   
anyone in the Dark Kingdom who could challenge you in a physical   
fight short of the Four."  
After thinking about this for a few moments, Drake pushed  
back his coarse red hair, now dampened by the fog. " I still don't   
get it, Lieutenant. The other officers I've had over me treat me   
as a little more than a weapon to be used and discarded. Why do   
you and the general keep on trying to get me to do more? Ever   
since he pulled me out of Nephrite's corps in the exchange   
program, it's been nothing but books and lessons."  
" Well, Drake," Azarite replied. " The reason is what   
I just told you. I don't know of any besides the Four who   
could beat you in a physical match. If the general   
and I can teach you to think before using your fists, we'll   
gain a valuable commodity for our use. You benefit by becoming   
a better soldier, and we benefit by having you become better.   
" The general is also looking forward to the challenge   
you may pose to him later on. If you become a more skilled   
officer and learn to use your skills more effectively, you   
may become a challenge to him, and that keeps him sharp. At   
least, that's what he told me when he gave me my training as a   
mage. He said he wanted me to become better so as to make him   
better."  
Drake mulled this over for a few minutes as they approached   
the point were they would separate for their patrols. " So that's   
why you keep on working with me to learn how to fight you as a   
mage and not just as another combatant?"  
" Exactly. If I just went against you with my fists, you'd   
beat me ten falls out of ten every day. Instead, I use my abilities   
to counteract yours. You leap to the attack and I simply use a   
little bit of energy to give you a push that will change the   
angle of your leap. You charge, I use that groundshaker spell."  
The big man laughed harshly at the memory of that one. He'd   
been surprised when Azarite challenged him to a bout as part of   
his training. He had expected to tear the smaller man apart. The   
ground seemed to fall out from under his feet as he charged in   
to attack and he ended up with a lump on his head, a bruised   
backside, and a rage that would have made him try to kill his   
adversary if he was being laughed at. Instead, the lieutenant   
had simply explained what he had done to him and that this was   
a lesson in not underestimating your opponents. No gloating,   
no boasting. This was nothing like his previous commanders.  
" We're here, Drake." Azarite said, breaking him out of his   
reverie. " I'll take the route to the left. You go right, into the   
upper class areas. There are probably going to be less unruly   
'football' fans there, whatever it is."  
  
*************************************************************  
  
The white cat pulled himself up onto his favorite branch   
in the tree by the house. It wasn't his house, but he thought of   
it that way. This spot gave him some very good options for watching   
the residents, jumping to the balcony for attention, escape and   
comfort. The latter was a requirement, after all. He examined his   
thoughts while he settled himself down for a nap in the   
mid-afternoon sun.   
It was almost four years since he had spotted her. She didn't   
look quite the same at the time, but the memories that had burst   
into his mind upon seeing her convinced him that he had found her.   
The sight of her long, blonde hair, blue eyes, and the red   
ribbon holding her hair back had been a wonderful surprise to   
him. It had been what... eight, nine years he had been searching   
for them. Some he had to find. One he had to protect.   
Why the stasis capsules, Serenity? he asked himself bitterly.   
I don't have any unusual powers. I can't do any heroic, last minute   
rescues. Why did you have to mess with my memories. They're my only   
weapon here. I've spent four years looking for the other senshi, and   
I haven't found them. Or worse, I couldn't recognize them if I did.   
At least he had found one of them. It was a good thing she   
was here in Tokyo. If she was in America or Europe, he might not   
have even noticed her due to her hair. In Japan, she stood out in   
the crowd. He was so shocked by seeing her, he nearly fell out   
of the tree. After that encounter, he followed her home   
closely enough to be her shadow. This area became his new   
home, at least after he drove off the other cats and the   
dogs. There's only one other cat he wanted prowling around   
here, and he wished he could find her.   
The worst of it was the fear of the decision he may have to   
make. What if he did it and turned out to be wrong? Could he condemn   
her to a life without her real friends? A life that may go on   
forever without any need for her, or anyone who would understand   
what she truly is, except for the stupid cat who did such a   
terrible thing to her? What if she hates me so much for it she   
leaves me? He didn't think he could handle that.  
Then there were the last words from Queen Serenity. She had   
wanted the children of the Moon Kingdom to be happy. To know   
peace and not be burdened by the memories of their past. He had   
promised to try and achieve that. How could he do it and still   
hold true to that promise?  
He began to make a list in his head concerning the   
issue, but gave it up after a few moments. The only thing on   
the other side was that he felt uneasy and the dreams. He had   
bad ones every several days starting about six moons ago that   
he could not remember but left him shaking and snarling when   
he woke. More importantly, he thought that she was beginning   
to have them also.   
He had watched with concern as her lifestyle began to   
change. She had always been able to juggle her schooling,   
training and friends before. She'd go to school and then to   
one of several different masters she had been studying under   
since her sudden interest in martial arts a couple of years ago.   
She hadn't stayed with any one for a long period but had gathered   
a lot of basics from several different styles. After her workout,   
she'd return home to spend time with her family and friends and   
was the terror of the local mall and arcade on the weekends. This   
all changed after his dreams began. Her contacts with her school   
friends had dwindled down to a few quick gatherings every couple of   
weekends. Her sleep was not as good as it once was, for he had   
watched the lights go on in her room in the middle of the night   
and stay on far too many times to be simple insomnia.   
Something was up. It had to be. It was the only option   
that fit the available information. He was a strategist; a tactician.   
He could tell that something was going to happen. He should be able   
to make this decision as easily as the other ones in the past. It   
should be as easy for him as when he was teaching tactics at the   
Guard Academy in the days of the Silver Millennium. He just   
studied the situation and moved the pieces accordingly. Could   
he ask this piece to pay such a price?  
  
**********************************************************  
  
The girl winced as she pulled on a bathrobe after her   
shower. The movements caused the sore muscles in her arms to   
complain to her of the work they did today. Her sensei had   
decided she needed more strength and flexibility in her arms   
and had worked her harder than usual. She walked through a   
quiet house and into her room. Her parents were at the theater   
tonight, courtesy of the tickets she had bought with most of her   
savings from her allowance. The play was a favorite of her   
parents and they had been so happy to get another chance to   
see it. They had tickets for the opening night, but her father   
had been called away for an emergency situation at his job at   
the last minute. Their smiles this morning when she gave them   
the tickets had been worth the effort. Luckily for her, the   
daughter of a previous sensei had lived up to her promises and   
found the tickets.  
She eased herself into the seat in front of the mirror in   
her room and began to brush her long hair as the late afternoon   
sun turned her room to a golden red. It took a lot of work to   
maintain her hair and she was more than willing to do it. Blondes   
were rare in Japan and it was almost like a magnet for the boys   
at her school. She had started noticing them a couple of years   
ago and liked being the center of their attentions. She just   
wished she had more time for that. For the last several months,   
she had been throwing herself into her studies at school and the   
dojo with a vengeance. Her last outing with her friends had been   
two weeks ago, and that had just been for a movie and ice cream. She   
hadn't been shopping at the mall for a month.   
Something was driving her with an increasing sense of urgency.   
It felt like she somehow knew the calm moments before the storm were   
running out. The anxiety was stretching her thin between her   
preparations and her lack of sleep recently. Something was   
going to happen. Something had to happen, or she would go crazy  
from the waiting. If she wasn't so tired, she thought as she put   
the brush down and tied her hair back, she could think about it   
for a while.   
  
***********************************************************   
  
The woman stepped out of the doorway to the roof access   
several rooftops away from the now sleeping cat. She was   
dressed differently now, in a white blouse and short skirt   
and carried the staff openly as a dim light from the red orb   
lit her way through the early evening darkness. I just have   
enough time to do this before my appointment, she thought.   
What she intended was not as difficult as a full portal, but   
it did still require her full concentration. She took a seat  
on the chair she had put on the roof earlier in the day and   
closed her eyes.  
Images of the Silver Millennium filled her mind. The   
joyous memories of the happiness there still tugged at her   
heart after all this time. The balls held every night for   
celebrating the peace and progress around them. The fireworks   
shattering the darkness for a moment, bringing murmurs of   
appreciation from the crowds and causing lovers to seek their   
sanctuary deeper in the luxurious gardens of the palace. The   
libraries that held the knowledge that was the cornerstone of   
their progress. The colonies on the other planets that had   
thrived and were prosperous centers of culture on their own.   
It made the images of the destruction all the worse as it passed   
away in scenes of poignant sorrows and sacrifices as an era died.   
Fleeting thoughts of those lost quickly followed. The Queen,   
with gentle eyes and a look of youth that belied her wisdom. Her   
councilors, skilled and benevolent diplomats, who held the   
darkness of war away with their combined talents. The nobles   
of the court, who administered their sprawling estates with a   
tender concern for all in their care. The skilled artisans and   
craftsmen whose joy was creating beauty, and the commoners who   
strove to pay back the care given to them with their utmost   
efforts and glad hearts.  
The sadness was especially sharp when the thoughts   
concerned several young woman wearing outfits similar to what   
she now wore. They were all of high birth and would be royalty   
except for their decision to sacrifice that life of ease so as   
to protect the people they loved. I miss you, my friends, she   
thought, even if I was not there as often as I would have liked.   
Our duties may have been different, but our purpose was the same.   
All of these images and feelings were tied into the   
matching eddies and currents of the time stream and directed   
gently towards the cat. He was about to have a dream he would   
never forget, she thought. It will be like he was right there,   
because in a sense he will be.   
" I'm sorry, Artemis," she said softly. " I wish there   
was another way." She reverted to her regular clothing and looked   
at the ticket in her pocket. She had just enough time to make the   
classical music recital at Mugen Gakuen High School.  
  
*************************************************************   
  
The one who was sixth out from the center stirred in   
his sleep and woke briefly to consider his worries again. Long   
ago, before the growth of life, something had troubled him. He   
spent a long time comtemplating it, but to no avail.  
It was only after the humans had begun to prosper on his   
siblings that he realized what it was. He confererred with his   
brothers who were further out than he. The largest brother was   
busy in his care for the humans, as he considered this his   
atonement for his part in the death of their sister long ago,   
and would not discuss it with them. The others closer in were   
also similarly pre-occupied. The ringed one was concerned that   
something meant to harm the humans, or even the siblings themselves.  
He could not determine what the threat was, however, but felt it   
came from further from the center than even the outermost of the   
brothers.  
The outer four considered this issue for a while. The one   
furthest out suggested that this may be an event yet to come, as   
the siblings did not journey through time like the humans did. The   
ringed one may be foreseeing a problem that was to occur. The four   
decided to watch for this threat, and to set their avatars to guard   
against any harm from beyond.   
He who was sixth out thought about the decision made long   
ago. The siblings involved had not found any threat, nor had their   
avatars when they were present. He couldn't be totally sure,   
but he thought he had a better idea of what concerned him. The   
unease now centered on the fact that something seemed to be very   
interested in his avatar. This confused him; however, as his   
avatar was missing like the others.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
  
A lucky swing of a paw caught a branch and stopped   
Artemis just before he hit the ground.   
" What the hell was that," he said aloud, disregarding   
years of training in keeping himself from talking in the   
wrong circumstances. Then he heard the screaming from inside   
the house. That's it, he thought to himself as he almost flew   
through the branches and flung himself into a leap impossible   
for an ordinary cat. If her dreams can do this to me, imagine   
what it's like for her. He would have to do it. It must be   
about to start if she's getting dreams this strong, he decided. It   
was as clear as if he was there, although the images were so fast   
he could barely recognize any of them. They were clear images,   
however, unlike his earlier nightmares and shocking enough to   
cause him to fall out of his tree.   
He landed lightly on the railing of the balcony outside   
her window and looked in. She was sitting in front of her mirror   
where she had apparently fallen asleep while at the desk. She   
had a wild look to her eyes and was breathing large gasps of air in   
response to her sudden awakening. Sweat had matted her hair   
down and she got up and took the ribbon off. She then walked   
out of the room and into the hallway. Artemis heard the sound   
of a bath being drawn a few moments later.   
" That's good," he said. "It will help her relax." After   
she is done, he'd have a talk with her. He began to groom himself.   
The act was as much to make himself more presentable as it was   
to have the familiar routine relax himself.   
  
*************************************************************  
  
Minako came out of the nightmare screaming. It took   
her several moments to realize she wasn't at the place in her   
dream. The sensation of loss was like a knife in her belly,   
it hurt so much. Her home and her friends were gone, destroyed.   
No, she thought savagely to herself. That was just the dream.   
She was in her house. No, her home, she emphasized. This was   
her home, not some fairy tale castle with a blue moon far bigger   
than it had any right to be.  
But why did that place feel so right? The deeper parts   
of her mind still screamed at her that what she saw in the   
nightmare was the proper place for her. The people she had   
glimpsed so briefly felt like old and familiar acquaintances.   
Her heart almost broke from the pain at the memory of a certain   
group of young women whose images had a strong emotional context   
to them.  
She concentrated on evening out her breathing and soon   
felt her heart slow to a more normal rate. She'd have the shakes   
soon from coming down after all that adrenaline in her system.   
After getting up, she removed the ribbon from her hair and went   
down the hall to draw a hot bath. It was the only way she'd   
relax after waking up like that. Maybe I'll have a sundae   
later on, she thought. I probably won't get any more sleep tonight.   
  
************************************************************  
  
The applause thundered out in the auditorium as the   
violinist finished her piece with a flourish. This had easily   
been the most skilled performer of the evening and her talent   
was more on a level with a professional than a high school student.   
It was a welcome relief to the usual caliber of players at school   
recitals. She did an elegant bow to the appreciative crowd and   
smiled as several bouquets came out of the audience to land on   
the stage. Red roses for the most part, mainly from some of the   
boys at school who were infatuated with her. She did find the   
flower she was looking for, a yellow rose in a simple yet   
deceptively elegant arrangement. This was the one she picked   
up as she bowed again to the audience and flashed a smile that  
was only meant for one person in the crowd.   
The violinist left the stage to let the next performer   
on and walked towards the small dressing room that was hers   
for this night. The privacy after performing for an audience   
was valuable to her and she knew she would be left alone for   
a few minutes by her friend so she could wind down from the   
high of her work on stage. She paused briefly before a full   
length mirror to check that her hair was in order. The turquoise   
color of her hair was nicely set off by the black dress. She had   
a date later on and wanted to look her best. She closed the door   
behind her and then gasped as she realized she was not alone.  
The woman with the long dark green hair stood and warmly   
smiled at her.   
" You play very well, Michiru. My name is Setsuna Meiou. I'd   
like to talk with you for a few moments."  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Minako felt much better after soaking in hot water for   
a couple of hours and making a quick snack for herself. She   
returned to her room and sat in front of her mirror again. She   
didn't believe in superstition and doubted that sitting there   
would cause another nightmare. The routine of brushing her hair   
relaxed her as she let her thoughts wander to anything but what she   
dreamed of earlier. A soft voice woke her from her reverie.  
" Venus?"  
She turned slowly, not realizing who had spoken. There   
was nobody in the room except for herself. Then she noticed the   
white stray cat who had taken over their yard. He had somehow   
gotten into her room and was sitting in a patch of light from   
the rising moon. He almost looked like a transparent statue. She  
knew he was friendly, although the cat has always been very   
reserved, almost shy around her. This was the first time she   
could think of where he had gotten into the house. He was normally   
content with staying in the yard and accepting handouts on rare   
occasions. She began to get up to let him out and started to   
dismiss the notion that someone said anything. I'm just hearing   
things, she thought.   
Then she noticed what was different. There was something   
on the cat's forehead. Some kind of half-circle, she thought. No,   
wait. It's a crescent shape. A golden crescent, like the moon   
when it was low in the sky. She wondered where the cat had gotten   
it or why she had not seen it before when it began to glow a faint,   
warm gold that seemed to grow until it occupied her entire field   
of vision.   
Suddenly, her world twisted and fell out from underneath   
her as a word reverberated through her soul.  
" Remember."  
  
***********************************************************  
  
That's enough time, the young woman thought to herself. If   
we don't get started soon, we'll be late and I worked so long at   
the track to have time for this evening. She got up and looked at   
the stage where a custodian was picking up a few scattered roses   
from the bouquets thrown earlier in the program. A tear or two   
threatened to form in her eyes as she considered the situation. My   
rose, she picked up my rose and no others. Such romantics the two   
of them were.   
With a smile, she spun to her right and walked to the aisle.   
The sudden movement caused her short, golden hair to twirl around   
her head and settle back into it's normal position. She reached into   
a pocket and took out a gold loop earring that was a gift from   
her friend and put it in her left ear as she walked up the aisle and   
into the lobby of the auditorium, steering her way through   
the few remaining knots of people gathered there.  
An older man made to intercept her, attracted by her good   
looks and slim figure, no doubt. He wasn't even put off by the   
fact she wore a suit more appropriate for a man than a woman. Old   
pervert, she thought and fixed him in his tracks with a steely-eyed   
stare that made him blink and remember the wife he had left a few   
paces behind him.   
After that, it was only a few more steps and she was through   
the door and into the area where the dressing rooms for the   
performers were. She was excited about the prospects she had for   
the evening ahead of her. She was even a bit nervous. Driving a   
car at 350 kilometers an hour didn't even phase her, and here   
she was, nervous at what was to come.   
Well, she thought to herself as she straightened her   
slender tie, here is her room. It was showtime. Tonight was a   
night they would never forget. She licked her lips once in a   
brief surrender to her nerves as she reached for the door.  
  
************************************************************  
  
She felt like she was slowly rising through a thick, clear   
liquid as she fought her way to consciousness. Her heart was   
racing at the edge of her control and she fought that down as   
well while she opened her eyes. It was still there.  
The cat remained were he had been, the golden crescent   
moon and his large blue eyes shining in the gentle moonlight. Was   
he the cause of this, she wondered. What is with the mark on   
his head? I never saw it before. I know it hadn't been there   
before. These and many other questions about what had happened   
raced through her mind at a frantic rate.   
The third major shock of the evening came in and hit her   
like the proverbial freight train. The cat looked at her for   
a few moments with what seemed like concern, and then he spoke.  
" I'm sorry, Venus. I truly am sorry to have had to do   
this."  
" Venus," she exclaimed. " Who is Venus? I'm Minako. Why   
are you calling me Venus? You're a cat. How can you talk? Am I   
still asleep or am I crazy?" she finished in a rush, panting for   
breath.   
The cat sat there and waited for her to catch her   
breath. " I know, you are Minako Aino," he said calmly. " You   
are also someone else. Please sit down and I'll try to explain   
it to you."  
She numbly moved back and sat on the bed. The cat jumped   
up and sat on the desk by the window, next to one of her many   
stuffed animals. This was too much, she thought. I'm talking to a   
cat. A talking cat. I've flipped, she thought, almost in hysterics.   
I'm going to scream soon and wake up from this. It has to be a   
dream.   
" This must be a dream," she told the cat. " A dream, or   
that crazy American TV show with the hidden cameras. Cats can't   
talk. I'm barely thirteen; I'm too young for a nervous breakdown.   
Where is the speaker hidden, or is there a ventriloquist hiding in   
here? Where is the camera?" she yelled at the cat, her nerves   
starting to go.  
The cat studied her for a moment, noting the growing   
hysteria in her voice and the strain she seemed to be under.   
Her muscles were taught and she was starting to tremble. The   
sigil of Venus shone on her forehead, but it wasn't the clear   
glow he had expected. The light was flickering and wavering. This   
isn't going right, he thought to himself. He had only one other ace   
to play.  
" I have to ask something of you before I can explain   
it," he said to girl in a soothing tone. You will need to do   
something before I can really explain it to you properly." He   
looked down at the table and concentrated for a moment. The   
moonlight at his feet seemed to grow brighter and brighter and   
something appeared.   
" Please come here," he said to the girl, using a touch   
of command in his voice to ensure her response. If she ran right   
now, I may not be able to undo the damage. Her memory blockage   
seems to be worse than mine.  
Minako slowly stood and walked over to the desk. A short   
wand lay there. Maybe it was a pen. It had an orange body and a   
gold cap, like a pen, but there was a symbol on the end. A   
heart with a cross coming off of the base. For some reason   
it was familiar, but she couldn't remember ever seeing it before.   
Her mind, her whole body felt numb. Why am I doing this? she   
screamed at herself.   
" Take the pen and hold it up over your head," the cat   
said in the same calm voice that made her keep on going and pick   
up the pen. It was something that seemed stable as everything   
around her seemed ready to spin away.   
" Now, say the words, Minako. I know you know them. They're   
just hidden away from you, just like your past has been. Say the   
words. Say the words and you can remember."  
She slowly raised the pen to just over her head. Part of   
her screamed at what was going to happen. You'll lose yourself,   
that part cried in fear. No, another part sang in exultation. You   
will be whole again. The siren call of the latter proved to be   
more temptation than she could take. It was a hope of inner peace,   
an end to the pain and uncertainty she felt for the last two years.   
She took a deep breath and shoved her right arm to it's full length   
over her head.  
" VENUS POWER, MAKE UP!"  
The world exploded around her.  
  
**************************************************************  
  
Artemis leaped clear as she yelled. He was away just   
in time as gold and orange lights fountained up behind him   
and surrounded her form. He was still seeing spots and stars   
before his eyes as he landed on the bed at the other side of   
the room. It worked! It worked, you lucky fool. I've got her   
back! He turned around to see the welcome sight as relief   
washed over him.   
  
**************************************************************  
  
There. There it was, again. She rejoiced inside and   
sang her pleasure in a hymn of joy. She could be whole   
again, and so could her beloved siblings. It had only been   
a tiny flash, and not very bright, but it was there. It was   
unmistakable.  
She basked for a short time in her joy, enjoying her   
pleasure after the ending of so much pain and uncertainty.   
They had suffered due to the loss of their humans, but that   
paled in comparison to the heights they could feel because   
of them. They had learned so much because of them, and now   
the siblings could begin to repay the debt once again.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Everything suddenly felt right within her. All of   
the myriad small differences were gone. This is how she   
was meant to be. Tension faded away as long-clenched muscles   
relaxed and the worries of two years were swept away from her   
mind. I'm who I am supposed to be. I'm whole, not a small part   
hiding from the rest.   
She turned to look at the other occupant of the room   
and stopped as she caught sight of herself in the mirror.   
Her hair descended in a beautiful golden cascade around her   
shoulders. A tiara, gold with an orange stone in the center   
graces her forehead. An orange ribbon was around her neck like   
a choker. She wore a white, sleeveless blouse with a dark blue   
bow in the front held by a yellow broach. Her skirt was orange   
with a yellow bow at the back of her waist. Orange trim on her   
long white gloves and orange sandals completed her outfit.  
" This is me?" she gasped in surprise. This wasn't a   
slightly insecure 13 year old. The image before her was someone   
to be reckoned with. She giggled, " Wow. Wait 'till the boys see   
me now."  
After admiring her image a moment more to make sure   
she wasn't dreaming, she turned to the cat and engulfed him   
in an embrace. " Artemis," she said, her voice thick with emotion.  
She held the cat a few moments more and then the tears   
came. She started sobbing as the effects of the losses she   
had suffered in the past came back to her. She now knew she   
had lost something very important to her and could now mourn   
that loss. All of the images from the nightmare of earlier   
flashed before her again, this time with an air of familiarity   
to it. She could still not make out many names and places, or   
understand what they were, but now she knew she was a part of it.   
After several minutes, the tears stopped. She reached   
out from her seat on the bed where she must have sat down   
while she was crying and took a tissue from the box on the   
desk. She wiped her eyes and cheeks, and then realized the   
cat was in far worse shape than her face. He was partially   
soaked from her tears and wore a bemused expression.   
" I'm sorry, Artemis. I didn't mean to do that to you.   
It's just... I finally remembered who I was and then what I   
lost. What we lost. The Silver Millennium is over, isn't it?"  
" I'm afraid so, Venus. It is gone, but not forgotten.   
I remember it, and now you do also. As long as it is not   
forgotten, it will still exist, at least in our hearts. Don't   
worry about the fur, either. I'm probably due for a real bath,   
anyway."  
She smiled at the joke and thought for a few moments. " I've   
seen you around here for several years," she said. " Why did you   
wait for so long to wake me up?"  
" Serenity wanted you to have a peaceful, normal life. She   
wanted that for all of the children of the Moon. You were   
reincarnated into this body. I assume that the others from the   
Moon have also been returning."  
" Artemis, it's not 'this body'. I'm Minako Aino. I'm   
also Venus," she said, almost testily. She continued in a more   
gentle voice. 'Please, call me Minako. I don't know if I can fill   
the shoes...uhm, sandals of Venus."  
He laughed at the joke. " Certainly, Minako Aino."  
How long had it been since he had laughed, he wondered.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
They resumed their conversation after he showed her   
how to change her clothes back and had dunked himself in a   
bathtub filled with warm water and suffered through a   
shampooing from her. He did draw the line when she pulled   
out the hair dryer and mousse.   
They went back to her room after a quick snack and   
kept the lights off to keep her parents from being suspicious.   
They were due back at any time now. Minako got under the covers   
of her bed and Artemis curled up near her on the other pillow.   
" How much do you remember, Minako? Tell me what you   
recall of the past."  
She slowly told him, pausing for a few moments here   
and there to search her mind for things that felt like they   
should be there but she couldn't recall. The gaps were of   
some concern to her as she started to realize that she was   
missing much of the information of her distant past.  
" Don't worry too much, Minako" he responded to soothe   
her fears. " I didn't fare much better. Let me start from   
the beginning.  
" There was an era of peace and prosperity for this   
system starting a little over two thousand years ago. The   
Moon Kingdom had spread it's influence and quitely helped   
the people on Earth. They had established colonies on the   
other planets. The cavern cities on Mercury were designed by   
their princess and hewn from rock deep beneath the surface   
there. There were the domed cities on Venus, and the great   
canals built on Mars to bring water down to the cities from   
the icecap. The moons of Jupiter were settled and the Floating   
Palace there was truly a sight to behold. The other planets   
were also settled and grew into prosperity.  
" In honor of the works of those before them, and in   
honor of their goals in the upcoming years, the Queen of   
the Moon Kingdom proclaimed that a new age had begun. It   
was to be called the Silver Millennium. This was just over   
a thousand years ago. It looked to truly be a great thing.   
The arts and sciences flourished. People were happy and   
knew peace.   
" This was all possible because of the Queen of the   
Moon. Her name was Serenity. She was a good, wise ruler. Her   
daughter was raised to follow in her footsteps. The people   
loved and revered them.  
" Unfortunately, there are always people who will   
spoil this kind of happiness. A Queen on Earth grew to   
despise the Moon Kingdom and coveted their position and   
power. She gathered evil people from Earth around her   
and attacked the Moon by surprise."  
" That was Beryl, right? I seem to remember hating   
that name," Minako said. The name caused her skin to crawl.   
Artemis nodded and continued.  
" The Moon Kingdom had it's protectors, however. The   
Guard was never large but they were very capable. They lay   
down their lives to give the other protectors a chance. The   
others were the Sailor Senshi, Minako. As Sailor Venus, you   
were one of them. Do you remember the images of the other   
young women from the dream? They were royalty from the colonies   
on the planets. They gave that up to become the Sailor Senshi   
and be the last line of defense for the Moon Kingdom."  
" Royalty," she said. " Me, royalty? What was I, a   
princess?"  
Artemis nodded. " Yes, a princess. Your parents   
there were the rulers of the domed cities on the planet   
Venus. That's where you got your name; it's from the planet   
you came from." He broke off at her giggling.  
" What's so funny?"  
" All girls want to be princesses, Artemis. I did   
when I was little and now I just found out that not only   
was I a real princess, but I gave it up."  
" You're not being too serious about this, Minako   
Aino." the cat replied. " It is very important for you to   
know this."  
" I'll try to be more serious, sensei," she replied   
with a wink. " Why was it Sailor Senshi?"  
" I'm not really sure about that. Why do you ask?"  
" I just realized the clothes look a lot like a school   
uniform."  
Artemis sighed and hung his head for a moment. He   
looked back into her eyes and continued.  
" They were able to defeat the rest of the army of   
Queen Beryl, but fell before the power Beryl herself wielded.   
Beryl destroyed the Moon Kingdom in her wrath and faced Serenity."  
" What happened to the other planets. Where they   
attacked? "  
" Yes, Beryl attacked them also. The power of   
the Imperial Silver Crystal was the only thing enabling   
the colonies to exist. The Queen chose to sacrifice herself   
by using the Crystal and giving up her life to save the   
children of the Moon Kingdom and seal Beryl and the rest of   
her forces away forever. Without that, the colonies were   
destoyed. The environmental conditions were too severe without   
the power of the Crystal.  
" The spirits of the Sailor Senshi, along with those   
of the Moon Princess and the children of the Moon, were sent   
ahead by Serenity to a time where they could be reincarnated   
and know peace like they did in the Moon Kingdom. The Senshi   
were to protect them if Beryl somehow returned."   
Minako thought about this for a few minutes as Artemis   
paused to give his voice a chance to recover. It had been out   
of practice for several years, after all. Minako got him a   
drink of water and then asked him a question.  
" What was your part in all of this? I remember that   
you were an advisor, but nothing else is very clear."  
" I was one of the advisors to Queen Serenity." he said   
with a degree of pride, but Minako caught the slight bitterness   
behind his tone of voice. " She sent me to   
Earth in a stasis capsule since I was one of the few survivors   
when Beryl destroyed everything. That's why my memories are not   
perfectly clear. The stasis affected them. I was hoping that yours   
would be better, since you were reincarnated here."  
" Something you said bothered you."  
The cat considered his feelings for a few moments before   
responding. " I feel that I should have seen the attack coming   
when it did. We had an idea that something was up on Earth, but   
Beryl surprised us. I still sometimes feel like it's my fault for   
not seeing it. I know better than that. I know it's not my fault,   
but I still can't help feeling it."  
" Beryl wasn't quite...sane, was she? She seemed twisted,   
turned in on herself. How can you expect to anticipate a sick   
mind? From what I recall, nobody thought it would happen like   
that. All I remember is the surprise of the attack."  
She quickly changed the conversation away from what was   
obviously a tender subject for him. " Our job is to protect   
the Moon Princess, from what you said." Minako said to him. " How   
many others of the Sailor Senshi have you found and woken up?"  
" None," he replied. " You're the only one I found or could   
recognize."  
" What about the Moon Princess? Surely you've found her."  
" No, I haven't found her either."  
" Any of the children from the Moon Kingdom?"  
" No," he said sheepishly. " It's just the two of us,   
I'm afraid."  
Minako hit him gently with a pillow before yawning and   
closing her eyes to go to sleep.  
" Some wise advisor you are."  
  
******************************************************   
  
" That was good work getting the maps of the target area,   
Beld."  
" Thank you, Sir." she replied to the lieutenant in front   
of her. After sketching a brief salute, she returned to studying   
her briefing notes as he moved away. She was sure he was being   
condescending to her. He had to be, to be so calm. She wished   
she could scan him, but he always had his mindscreen up, like any   
competent mage.  
The squad was in an small chamber near the gate to Earth,   
preparing for the next mission. It would be daylight at her   
insertion time, on what was generally a day of rest for the   
humans in Tokyo. They called it a weekend and it was generally   
looked forward to, she recalled from her notes.   
The mission was going to be another milk run like the   
first. Wander around, let the crystal gather energy samples,   
and watch the stupid humans. At least she would be able to   
check in on her plaything and see how she was doing. The memory   
of the anguish she had caused a shiver of pleasure to run down   
her spine. Then she would look for an even larger canvas to work   
on. It was a big city, after all.   
  
*************************************************************  
  
Azarite walked away from Beld and started getting the gear he   
needed ready. He carried a few specialized pieces of equipment that   
his squad didn't. He used this as a cover to observe the telepath out   
of the corner of his eye. She looked far too happy about something   
for his liking. She's up to something, he thought to himself.  
Azarite may not have been the most powerful mage in the Dark   
Kingdom, but he was one of the best at getting the full use of what   
he had. Subtlety was the key, not raw power. Kunzite had worked   
long and hard with him to prove that point. He quickly wove   
together a few strands of energy from a crystal he carried in   
his pocket that was one of his stored reserves of power. These   
were looped together and then sent towards the telepath. The   
strands settled about her without her noticing.   
It's such a low power spell, she didn't even feel it. Now,   
if she tried using her power on Earth, she's be as loud as an   
explosion to anyone looking for a magical disturbance. One of   
the troopers also going to Tokyo had a minor talent. He couldn't   
cast any spells, but he could 'hear' them if they were sufficiently   
'loud.' This would definitely be loud. The trooper was also   
squarely in Azarite's camp. This way, he'd have proof of   
her disobeying his orders if she acted up.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
The dawn was particularly nice today, Artemis thought to   
himself. He had let himself out the window a bit before sunrise to   
make quick patrol of his territory. A brief chat with one of the   
local tomcats had assured him that there had been no sign of the   
cat that he had been looking for, at least not in this area. Once   
he had assured them that he was not trying to claim any territory   
except the one house, his relationships with the local cats had   
improved and they were often a good source of information about new   
cats in the surrounding area. The appearance of a sharp-clawed and   
sharp-tongued new female in the area would be noticed by the other   
cats and he would eventually hear of her arrival. I was drawn here   
by something, so I would assume she would be, also.   
It may not be the best logic, but it's the only hope he had on   
this. I need her help. She was always with the Queen and the Senshi.   
She'd know more about how to handle things here. I guess I'll have   
to teach Minako the basics on my own. He got up and stretched   
lazily in the clear sunlight of the early morning. He had slept   
well last night, he thought. I just may be able to face this day.   
" Once more into the breach," he whispered to the wind, and   
left to find his new pupil.  
  
**************************************************************  
  
Minako took the stairs at her usual three-at-a-time pace   
and the last several in one leap, landing lightly in the hallway   
and startled her mother, who was headed for the stairs.  
" Good morning, dear," her mother said, after getting her   
breath. She embraced her daughter warmly and continued   
speaking. " Your father and I would both like to thank you   
very much for getting those tickets. We had a wonderful time,   
thanks to you."  
" Any time, mom. I knew you both had wanted to see that   
show and that it a big disappointment to have had to miss it.   
I'm glad you had a good time. Where's Dad?"  
" He's in the garage packing up the car. We decided last   
night after the show to go out for a picnic today in the forest.   
You know, the camping site by the old shrine we sometimes go to.   
We both realized how much fun we had last night and how some   
things had been keeping us apart lately. We are going to go up   
there and spend a little time together today. We'll be back later   
on, at about seven or eight. Think you can handle a day on your   
own, sunshine?"  
" I think so, mom. I'm glad I could play matchmaker for the   
two of you. Have fun up there."  
" That's good. Here, go to the mall and have some fun today   
or get out for a bit." Her mother pressed several bills into her   
hand. " It's too nice a day to stay inside."  
Her mother studied her for a few moments. " You look like   
you're in good spirits today. I hope that you're over whatever had   
been keeping you down lately"  
" I think I am. I got a good night's sleep and I think I   
could take on the world! Tell Dad I said hi and I hope you both   
have a great time," she said as she slipped around her mother   
and into the kitchen to take care of her growling stomach.  
  
************************************************************  
  
The young man who walked into the mens clothing shop was a   
real hunk, the saleswoman thought. With those looks and eyes,   
she'd be surprised if he wasn't a model. She kept her eye on him   
as he browsed around the shop while she finished setting up the   
register for the day ahead. Saturdays were always busy, and the   
first of the boys coming in for suits for graduation and the   
proms should be starting soon.   
The young man had finished looking over the casual clothes   
and business suits without really finding anything that   
interested him, she thought. She saw him go over into the   
formal wear section and took her chance. She walked over to   
him while considering what she thought he should be wearing.   
" Can I help you, sir?" she said in a sweet voice. She   
didn't want to frighten him off by being too pushy or   
insistent. " Are you looking for anything in particular?"  
His eyes narrowed for a few moments as he was obviously   
thinking about something. " I don't have anything coming up   
that I need it for, but I thought I'd get a new suit today." he   
replied to her. She helped him take off the green jacket he was   
wearing which left him in a black shirt." Let me take some   
measurements," she said. " Then I'll bring out a few things   
in the right size and we can see what you would like." After   
measuring him and resisting the temptation of a quick feel,   
she spent about an hour with him trying on several different   
suits.  
She had just returned from briefly helping another   
customer while he was considering one her latest choices. The   
tuxedo looked wonderful on him, and she decided to tell him   
so. She took a rose from a vase and handed it to him as   
he stood before a full length mirror.   
" You look great in that. The girls will be all over   
you. "  
He smiled back at her.  
" Thank you. I think I'll take it."  
He turned back to the image in the mirror. The sight   
of himself in the elegant formal wear with the rose in one   
hand just seemed so... so right.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
She finished the last of her breakfast and let the cat in.  
" Here, I saved you some."  
The cat thanked her and began to eat. She finished cleaning   
up and waited for him to finish.   
"What happened to your parents, Minako? I haven't seen them   
around here this morning."  
" They left to take a trip up to the mountains today. Dad's   
job has been keeping him busy lately and they haven't had much   
time together recently. I was hoping that the show last night   
would help bring them a little closer together. It worked, so   
when it comes to love, Venus knows all," she said with a wink   
at him.  
" Congratulations. That will give us plenty of time to   
work on some things today. You'll have to start practicing to   
learn more about yourself."  
" More practice!" she cried in dismay. " I'm still sore from   
the other night."  
" Are you really?" he replied.   
She thought about it for a moment and flexed her arms around   
in a very conservative motion, expecting a jolt of pain. It didn't   
come. She swung her arms about her, reveling in the lack of the pain   
she had from her workout yesterday.   
" What happened? I should be so sore I shouldn't be able to   
move."  
" I think there may have been some changes in you due to the   
transformation. The senshi were all very strong and tough for their   
size. Maybe your body is changing. Do you have a scale for measuring   
with?"  
" Yes, in the bathroom. Why?"  
" We need to check something out. " He indicated for her to   
lead the way, and they went into the other room.   
" Try weighing yourself, Minako." The cat turned away and sat   
with his back to her.  
" Don't peek, Artemis," she teased him as she slipped off the   
robe and stepped on the scale.  
" What?!?" she exclaimed, and got off the scale and back on   
a few times. " I don't believe this. I put on five pounds between   
yesterday and today. I barely ate anything. It's not fair," she   
finished with a pout as she put the robe back on.   
Artemis glanced over his shoulder at sound of cloth on skin   
and verified it was safe. He turned to her and said, " It may not   
be your fault. Come on, let's go up to your room and check   
something out. I think I know what happened."  
In her room, he directed her to try on several items   
of clothes while he resolutely kept his back turned. After   
she had finished and put on a pair of white shorts and a   
shirt, they discussed the results.  
" Minako, you gained about five pounds and grew about   
a half inch overnight. It's either one sudden growth spurt   
or there have been a few changes made by the transformation   
process. Now, you should start practicing using that pen. Change   
back and forth several times."   
She complied by switching to Venus and back as directed.   
She hated the changing back part, she decided. It felt like   
she was somehow lessened by taking her normal form. After he   
was satisfied by that, he had her spend a couple of hours as   
Venus. This was, he explained, to let her get to know the   
differences in her bodies. He had her go through several of   
her martial arts drills as part of her practice.   
" What were you doing, following me to my workouts?" she   
complained after several repetitions of a difficult maneuver.   
She was starting to get sore from all the exercise he was putting   
her through. This cat was a worse taskmaster than her current   
sensei.  
" No, but you did spend a lot of time working out in the   
yard in the summer." he replied. " I just watched you here   
at the house while you were outside. Karate, kendo, indiscriminate   
grappling, kung fu, hapkido, and now jujitsu, if I recall."  
" How do you know so much about what I was practicing?" she   
questioned him a few moments later.  
" One of my duties was as a strategist. To do that   
properly, I had to have a very good grounding in a lot of   
different things concerning warfare and politics. I was able   
to notice the different styles you used. "  
" That's another thing I thing I wanted to ask, Artemis.   
You've been around here for about 4 years. How come we didn't   
notice the crescent on your forehead before?"  
" Of the few things that I can do, one of them is to hide   
the crescent moon from people seeing it. From what I've been   
able to figure out, it just seems unremarkable and is forgotten   
about. This is a low level enchantment that affect everyone who   
sees it. I can concentrate on a specific person and make them   
forget they ever saw it, if the other ability doesn't work."  
" Did you ever do that to me?" she said.  
He thought for a moment and sighed. " No, Minako Aino.   
I did not. I would never do anything like that to you." She   
thought about the implications in his statement and how he   
had worded it. The cat continued.  
" Now, I think that's enough practice for the day. I've   
got one other thing to show you. You need to have the pen   
to be able to transform, to the best of my knowledge. This   
is how you access your storage space for keeping it in when   
you're not using it."  
  
*********************************************************  
  
The bells of a clock tower tolling noon found them in one   
her favorite outdoor malls. She already had picked a new dress to   
buy later on and was looking for some accessories to go with it.   
Artemis was currently riding on her shoulders as he found it safer   
than trying to avoid the feet of so many people.   
Minako had already spent about a half an hour talking to   
some of her school friends she had ran into. He had to play at   
being a normal cat during that time, and was glad when she   
seemed to notice his plight and had left the group with a promise   
to see them at school.  
" I'm sorry about that. I haven't seen them for a while   
and got to talking to them about a few things. You know, I feel   
really good today, Artemis. I don't think I've enjoyed going out   
and shopping and seeing people for a few months. I feel like I'm   
floating." she said a she stepped up onto the rim of a fountain   
and walked around on the narrow rim while pirouetting. " Let's get   
some ice cream! There's a good shop up ahead."  
From her vantage point on the fountain, she could see a   
crowd of people gathering up ahead. Sensing something amiss,   
she jumped down and raced through the crowd and elbowed her   
way to the front.  
The scene in front of her was one of confusion. A young   
man lay unmoving on the pavement. Several other young men,   
wearing similar shirts to their fallen companion, were gathered   
around the fallen figure and a tall, pale man in a gray uniform   
of some sorts. They were arguing about something.  
She felt the hair on her neck rising as a chill swept   
over her. The cat had arched his back and dug his claws into   
her shoulder. He hissed at the memories the uniform brought   
to the surface of his mind.  
" Minako, get back out of here, now!" he said in her   
ear. " That is the uniform of a soldier of the Dark Kingdom." She   
had worked her way out of most of the crowd when a mass of black   
tendrils rushed through the front rows of people and dropped them   
in their tracks. The pale man stood there, clenching a black crystal   
and speaking in a strange tongue. She backpedaled and cut into a   
side walkway as the mass of people behind her broke and ran in   
panic, narrowly missing her in their flight.  
" Artemis, get down." she barked as the cat leaped away   
from her. She reached behind her and concentrated on the   
transformation pen. She surged forward towards the main walkway,   
the cat in close pursuit.  
" Venus power, make up!" she cried and changed while she   
turned the corner and looked at her adversary while charging him.   
He looked surprised and confused already by what had been   
happening. I hope he's up to another shock.   
Her leap had been planned to just clear a person who had   
fallen and had partially risen. She landed behind the pale man,   
who had gone even whiter upon seeing her.  
" It can't be! You're dead. We killed you back-"  
She whirled and snapped out a kick to his stomach that   
robbed him of his words and breath. This was followed up by a   
chop to the neck that caused a sickening crunch of bone when it   
landed. He crumpled and fell to the ground.   
Venus looked at the body with a sense of grim satisfaction.   
Minako looked at him in horror. She'd just killed a man. She   
didn't know why, but she'd just came in at him and everything   
she had learned the past two years had clicked together and she   
had used lethal force. This was against all her training, all   
her convictions she had learned when she was growing up. Killing   
is wrong, she cried out to herself. Why did you make me do this,   
she shouted at a part of her mind. Why did you make-  
" Minako!" Artemis yelled at her and smacked her in the   
leg with a paw. " The roof, now. Jump!" The cat leaped up to   
her shoulder as part of her realized that getting away from   
the scene might be a good idea. She looked up and leaped, not   
really believing she could make it.   
Her feet came to rest on the top of the ledge surrounding   
the roof of the two-story building she had been in front of. How,   
she thought to herself. How can I do that. The cat nudged the   
side of her face.  
" Turn around, Minako. You need to see this."   
The body on the ground was starting to disappear, turning   
into a mound of dust that seemed to melt away. Some of the people   
on the ground were beginning to stir. She stepped back away from   
the ledge.  
" Are they going to be all right?"  
" I think so. Those tendrils were draining energy from   
them. Their life energy. They'll probably just need a few days   
rest to recover." Artemis caught her eyes and held them on his. He   
needed to make her understand the next part or self doubt would   
start to cripple her.  
" Minako, I recognize that look on your face. You were blaming   
yourself. You did not kill a man. You killed a monster who would've   
preyed on these people and destroyed them if he had the chance. You   
are not to blame here. You did not do anything wrong."  
Minako stood there on the verge of tears for a few moments.   
Then she gathered her self control and calmed herself. " I think I   
know that now. It just scared me how part of me killed him   
so... casually. So easily. I never thought I could do anything   
like that. Venus did it without a second thought. I was thinking   
that being Venus was going to be a breeze. I didn't realize that   
there would side effects like this."  
" Venus had been a warrior for some time, Minako." the cat   
replied. " She has fought these things before. I think you can   
trust that part of you. She was never, never malicious or dishonest.   
I don't think you have anything to worry about there. Look, the   
crowds starting to wake up down there. Let's go check them out   
and make sure they are all right. Then, I want to try that ice   
cream." he said with a plaintive voice that brought a little smile   
to her.   
She moved to the back of the roof and leaped down after   
making sure it was clear. She put the cat down and reverted. Then   
they went to take a look at the real victims of this engagement.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Azarite was growing concerned. He had already returned from   
his mission in England. The scans he was making of the two primary   
magic sources were complete. He would be able to go and directly   
investigate the two sites on his next mission.  
His problem had to do with the group going to Tokyo. Aside   
from Beld, two of the three lieutenants had already reported   
back in. The one who was missing was his spy. This is not good,   
he thought to himself. She must have done something to him, the   
mage thought. My agent was too good to have provoked her.  
The gate flared into life behind him. He turned with   
anticipation that faded as the blue haired telepath stepped   
through and sketched him a quick salute. She handed him her   
crystal and spoke.  
" Sir, I believe that something happened in Tokyo that was   
unusual. The crystal grew very warm around midday for a few   
moments. Then it seemed to vibrate and then settled down. I   
could not track anything down in the limited time I had   
remaining without using my other abilities, sir. I'm sorry   
I could not determine what had happened."  
Azarite gritted his teeth and collected the crystals from   
the other two who were in Tokyo. They denied feeling anything   
unusual. He cast a few spells, openly this time, and studied   
the sampling crystals. There was a sharp spike in the background   
emanations, all at the same time index and all about the same   
power in relation to it. The three others would have had to be   
all at the source or all at the same distance away from it at   
the time of the surge to have that kind of information. This   
isn't helping determine what happened.  
" Beld, keep watch here until they close the gate. Report   
back to me if the lieutenant comes through. Please also be here   
when the gate is open tonight when they try for a delayed pick up.   
In the meantime, I think we have just about enough information   
on Tokyo. I'll send you in for one more recon in a few days.   
I'll have more orders on it for you tomorrow." He swiftly went   
out of the room and to his office, where he sprawled in a   
chair to think about the events that had just occurred. This   
time, she had dodged his thrust.  
  
**************************************************************   
  
The girl sat in front of the roaring fire and contemplated   
what she had seen there earlier. In spite of the warmth, she wore   
a red robe with a white shirt over that. She kept the concentration   
up that enabled her to continue her rapport with the flames.  
She had seen something. A blurred outline of a man in dark   
clothing, attacking a group of people with some kind of energy.   
The feelings she got from the man were bad enough, but the black   
tendrils chilled her to the bone with the evil she sensed from them.  
Then, almost too quick for her to see, a shadow swept by the man   
and he fell and faded away just before her visions did.  
With a thought, she banked the fire in the ceremonial pit and   
returned to the coolness of her rooms. This was not just a simple   
matter of finding a lost key for someone, she had mastered that   
years ago. This was the first time the fire had given her a   
premonition of danger like this. The other warnings had only   
the vaguest feeling of danger to them. This one seemed serious.   
Just to be on the safe side, she went to the storage room   
and got some writing parchments and brushes and an inkstone. The   
very old inkstone, the one that had been at the shrine since   
the time before the gaijin came. These were the best in the   
shrine, and her grandfather would have a fit if he found her   
using them. She returned to her room and began the laborious   
rituals for making her wards against evil. If anything did   
happen, she would have a brand new set at the height of   
their power.   
  
  
***********************************************************  
  
" Why did you let me eat so much? I think I'm going to die."  
" You insisted that you could handle it."  
" Yes, but why did you believe me? "  
" I figured that you would know your limitations."  
Artemis groaned and collapsed on the bed in Minako's room. He   
never had thought that it was that rich, before. That shop must be   
using some really good cream.  
The day had gone better than he expected. They had checked out   
the victims of the attack and found them to be all right, but very   
tired. The police had been talking about mass hysteria and UFO's   
when they left to hit the ice cream shop. They had seen the   
crystal, or the remains of it once they got around to looking for   
it. Something had broken it, perhaps the fall when the man had   
flung it away due to Minako's kick. It had been disintegrating   
like the corpse had. After a few moments, it was gone.  
" Minako, I've got an idea."   
She looked up from her reading of the late edition of the   
paper.   
" Yes?"  
" He seemed to recognize you, at the last moment."  
" You're right, he did."  
" I think that we could get around that. If the Dark Kingdom   
knows one of the Sailor Senshi is here, they might attack in force   
right way. I don't think you're up to dealing with a small horde on   
your own, just yet. I also think it would be a good idea to have   
someone for them to see doing things that they will notice. They   
will probably stop and investigate. It just might give us more   
time to find the other senshi or the princess. How do you feel   
about becoming a super-heroine?"  
" A what! Did that ice cream go to your head? " she said   
with a little smile, teasing him about his overdoing it earlier.   
She sighed and thought about it for a moment. " You mean hiding   
in plain sight? I could still fight the Dark Kingdom, but they   
wouldn't recognize the enemy as one of their hated foes. I   
recall they didn't like us very much there."  
" I should say so. There was a nice bounty on the heads of   
the senshi if a Dark Kingdom warrior could collect it. If we change   
the costume, we can confuse them. A few emblems of the Moon Kingdom   
thrown in will make them believe they're facing someone from   
there, but their intelligence won't have any up to date   
information. They must have only broken out recently, or we   
would have heard of them before. We make a new costume, and   
Bingo!, an enemy who looks like a Sailor Senshi but isn't like   
any of the ones they know. I like it!" the cat finished, his   
stomach forgotten. " I know that none of them used a color   
scheme of white, blue and red. That'll be our motif. Open up   
the closets, girl, and pull out that transformation pen. We   
have a senshi to create."  
  
***********************************************************  
  
" All right, hand over the cash! Now!" the young man yelled.   
He emphasized the point by waving the wicked looking knife in   
the face of the bank teller and shoved a bag at her. " Do it   
quickly, and you won't get hurt. Hurry!" he yelled at her   
again.  
She had finally put the money in and he took off for the door   
with the bag. As he ran out, he saw a pair of policeman running   
towards the bank from the nearby substation.  
They must have gotten to the silent alarm, he thought. In   
desperation, he looked around for a diversion or distraction.   
There! He raced towards a group of children and grabbed a small   
girl and waved the knife in front of her face. I just have to   
hold 'em a few more seconds and I'll be at my ride.  
" Back off, man! I'll cut her if you don't!" he shrieked at   
the police. He started backing away from them, with the child   
being dragged along while crying. Just a few more feet.  
Something whipped past him and hit the knife, sending it   
flying away to land near the police officers. A woman stood there,   
looking at him with disdain. She had long blonde hair and wore a   
short blue skirt. Her white shirt was cut short, exposing her   
waist and a red ribbon was tied in a bow in the front. Sort of   
like a schoolgirl, he thought, except for the red mask. He   
relaxed a little at the sight of the pretty girl, and eased   
his grip on his hostage. It proved his undoing. Her high kick   
slammed into his chest, safely above the child's head. He flew   
back onto his car and barely saw his partner there, with his   
hands tied to passenger side door, before he blacked out.   
She posed briefly for the mini-cam she pretended she didn't   
notice being run by a concerned onlooker. " Don't worry, little   
girl," she said to the youngster, who had stopped crying. " I'm   
Sailor V. I'm here to protect all of you." She flashed a V sign   
with her fingers at the camera and gave it a quick, dazzling smile   
before jumping down the street and up onto a building. She   
continued for a few blocks, going from rooftop to rooftop. She   
finally jumped down, changed back and scooped up the white cat.  
" Just like clockwork, Artemis. It couldn't go better if we   
had planned it. There was even a camera. I bet we get on the news   
tonight."  
" That's great, Minako. Sailor V is off to a good start.   
Let's make the most of this holiday you have this week. "  
  
************************************************************  
  
The evening news on Monday led off with a feature about the   
mysterious heroine who had foiled a bank robbery in the morning and   
was full of eyewitness accounts and the amateur footage from the   
scene. She watched it with her parents and did a good job of   
being impressed by it. She then went in to help her mother fix   
dinner. Her father continued to watch the news program. He left   
to come to the table just before the sports segment.  
" The auto racing world was stunned yesterday by the sudden   
retirement of racing sensation Haruka Ten'ou, last years rookie   
champion. Personal reasons were cited by the driver. This puts the   
trophy in anyone's hands, as Ten'ou had a commanding lead in the   
standings on the circuit. More sports and business, after these   
messages..."  
Minako walked into the room to turn off the television. She   
thought the boy in the picture was real cute, although she   
only saw him for a moment before the commercials started.   
  
*************************************************************  
  
Azarite finished the reports concerning the missing soldier.   
There was no sign of him or the crystal. He would have to send Beld   
there one more time to complete the survey properly. He couldn't do   
it himself, as much as he wanted to. He did not like losing any of   
his men and would have liked to find out what had happened. The   
results on England were just too important to ignore.  
The power sources there were gigantic. A small portion of   
either would be enough to make him as powerful as Kunzite, at least   
in terms of raw power. He still didn't think he was ready for that   
challenge, yet. Maybe after a few more centuries of my studying   
him and Zoisite's meddling, he thought. He still wasn't impressed   
by the nature of the other general. He gets too involved in things,   
Azarite said to himself. He can't keep business separate from   
personal issues.   
Still, there was much he could do in England before he turned   
in his final, doctored reports. They should keep anyone from   
noticing what I'm up to. The chance to work with a power source   
of that magnitude was not one to be passed up. The experience   
would give him a great advantage over his rivals here. The rivals   
he had now and the ones to come. If he could somehow fully tap   
one or both sources, that list could include anyone he could   
think of. Even Beryl herself.   
  
***********************************************************  
  
Beld stepped through the gate to Tokyo. The alley she used   
for her entry point was nice and secluded. There had been no   
problems with anyone finding it during several jumps. She walked   
to a park and read the notes her spy in Azarite's group had   
written for her. The lieutenant had been pre-occupied and used   
one of his troopers to deliver his reports to Kunzite. She had   
him briefly read it and give her a summary of the contents.  
He seems to think he can get away with this, she thought to   
herself. He's got access to something with almost as much power as   
Metallia and he's going to play with it. Beryl will have his head   
on a pike, she thought with a happy smile at the image. She would   
never let anyone get used to working with something like that. The   
Queen liked to keep her advantages, and one of them was that she was   
the only one who dealt with Metallia.  
I've got to leak this out, she thought. That will be a   
beautiful revenge on him, she thought. Beryl will probably keep   
him alive on that pike for a while, too. She got up and left to   
finish her assignment.   
She had refrained from using her powers on her last assignment.   
This would be her last time here, so she decided to check on her toy.   
She fixed the image of the young mother in her mind and gently   
reached towards it. The chaos and suffering that her target was   
going through was sheer bliss to her. She savored it while   
walking throughout the city streets, looking for a fitting event   
to mark her last visit here for the near future.  
She didn't even notice the activation of the spell that   
Azarite had cast a few days earlier.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Tuesday had been a boring day for the new darling of the   
media. The consensus was that the heroine was from America,   
according to the press. She still wondered why she let Artemis   
get that side of the bet. She was sure she would have been   
considered an alien princess. The only things she helped out   
with on Tuesday were a few accidents and getting cats out of   
trees.   
Wednesday had been a far different story. The morning had a   
fire in an apartment complex and she had rescued a firefighter   
from being trapped by the blaze. She was still astonished by   
how fast she could run when she was Venus. As Minako, she was   
a fast runner. Venus could move like the wind. She was considering   
what other differences there might be when she felt her skin crawl.   
She turned and looked at the cat next to her. " You felt it,   
also?"  
" Yes," Artemis replied. He scanned the skyline from their   
vantage point up on a building. He finally stopped when looking in   
the direction of the Tokyo Tower. " There, I think. It seems to be   
coming from that direction. I wish I could figure it out. As soon   
as I start to notice it, it's gone."  
She put the cat on her shoulder and headed towards the tower.  
  
************************************************************  
  
" Yes, Mother?"  
The young girl sat and looked at her mother. She wished she   
looked more like her mother. She was feeling slightly awkward at   
this age and would have loved to trade in her blue hair for the   
lustrous black her mother had. Besides, she had explored the family   
tree as far back as she could and found no mention or record of   
blue hair. Genetics was an interesting thing but there was no valid   
reason she could find for the color. She returned her attention to   
her mother.  
" I told you a few weeks ago that I had applied for a   
position at the hospital near the Juban region. I just received   
word from them today. I've been accepted for the pediatrics   
position there."   
" That's nice, Mother. I'm glad you were accepted. You were   
really looking forward to it."  
" Yes, dear. I was."  
After a few moments, the girl continued. " I guess this   
means we will be moving again?"  
" I'm afraid so. We won't have to go for about six months to   
a year, however. The hospital has already lined up a deal on a   
wonderful house very close to the hospital, so I'll have more time   
to spend with you there. I'm sorry it has been so difficult for you   
here, Ami. Please bear with it for a little longer."  
She gave her mother a faint, sad smile. " It's all right,   
Mother. At least I'll be able to have a chance to say good bye to   
some of my friends this time."   
She turned and left the room to continue her studies.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Now, this has possibilities, Beld decided. Busy traffic and   
a crowded park. She spent several minutes looking for a suitable   
approach. Her last work had come out just fine, but the artist in   
her did not want to do a mere repeat performance.  
She sat on a bench and moved the bag to her side. Another   
clerk had been more than happy to give her duplicates of the maps   
she had obtained earlier on her first mission here. These joined   
the notes from her spy in the bag, obtained in much the same   
manner as the first.   
Decisions, decisions, she thought to herself. Hoping that   
inspiration would strike her in a way as satisfying as it had   
before, she steered a child away from the now dozing mother in   
front of her. The child could walk relatively well, and gamely   
trundled along at the top speed his short legs would sustain.  
She almost had him into traffic when someone raced in and   
snatched up the child and put him on the grass near his mother.  
" Afraid to pick on someone your own size, witch?" the   
figure before her said. " Going after poor, defenseless children   
is pretty low. I'm Sailor V! On behalf of mothers everywhere,   
I'll punish you for that."   
The cat hiding behind the park bench the gray-clad menace   
sat on winced at her choice of words and delivery.   
" So you're the Sailor V I heard people talking about this   
morning," Beld said as she rose to her feet, letting the bag   
slip from her shoulder. There would be time to return for it   
after she dealt with this nuisance. She whipped out the crystal   
and shouted the command for it to drain everyone in the zone of   
effect except for her.  
The tendrils started to shoot out, but her primary target   
had moved as soon as she had. The crystal was smashed out her   
grip by a white-gloved hand. She heard the crystal break on   
the concrete as Sailor V smashed into her and the two went   
flying from the collision.   
" You'll pay for that one, maggot." Beld hissed as   
she struggled to her feet. That shoulder in her chest had   
hurt. She lashed out with her mind at her opponent, who had   
also just risen. She clamped down on her assailant to keep   
her from moving. It was not an easy struggle, for her opponent   
had a resilient and stubborn mind. This was her turf, however.   
Few of the operatives in the psi-branch of the Dark Kingdom   
could even best her at this. That is how she stayed out the   
organization; it had proven to be too expensive for them to   
continue trying to bring her in.   
" I've got you now. You can squirm all you want, but   
I've got you. Your mind is nothing compared to mine. You'll   
wish you were dead when I get through with you."  
She sent a lash of white hot pain through the link and   
was rewarded by a scream of agony. Several more followed as   
she explored how much this one could take. This promised to   
be a very fun time for her. Then, she saw the right hand   
begin to rise.   
Her mind bore down in a furious assault on the one   
in her mental grasp. Still, the hand slowly continued to   
rise until it was pointed at her, the thumb and index finger   
pointed at her and the rest clenched. She could barely contain   
the seething maelstrom of raging fury in front of her, but   
she_still_could_contain_it.  
Pain?!? What happened? Her concentration slipped for a   
moment as she looked down at the white cat who stood by her   
leg and fastidiously examined the claws it had just removed   
from the holes in the sensitive skin at the back of her left   
knee.  
" Crescent Beam!"  
A blast of light tore across the space between   
the two as it punched through the gray uniform.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
Minako sank to her knees as both of them collapsed.   
The other fell full-length on the grass of the park and   
began to turn to dust. The pain in her head was unbearable   
and the light was causing more waves of pain. From somewhere,   
she gathered her strength and forced herself to stand.  
" Meow?"  
This caused her to open her eyes. This had to be Artemis,   
she thought. If he wasn't speaking, it had to mean something was   
going on. She spotted him on the park bench, standing on the bag   
the telepath had dropped with his eyes full of concern. He   
couldn't say anything as there was a crowd forming around her.  
" Who is she?"  
" It's that girl who's been on the news."  
" Is it Sailor V? She's so cool?"  
" Sailor V! Where?!?"   
" Hey, everybody. It's her!"  
The crowd started to gather in around her, cutting off   
her from her intended path to the cat and the bench. People   
started to grab at her and a multitude of questions were shouted   
at her over the din of the throng. She couldn't move without   
hitting someone. This was getting bad, she thought over the rising   
panic.   
A man in front of her reached out and took a firm hold on her   
wrist. She didn't like the look on his face and instinctively   
pulled her arm back a little bit. It was enough to cause him   
to react by unconsciously pulling his arm back. This was the   
opening she needed, as she remembered one of her lessons. His   
center of gravity shifted back when he tried to withdraw his arm   
and she turned her wrist slightly, yanked it free and shoved him.   
Her push combined with his shift caused him to fall back, taking a   
few others with him.  
Freedom, she thought, and desperately leaped clear of the   
pack. She landed near the cat and scooped him and the bag up as   
she tore out of the park at her fastest speed. A few blocks   
later, she jumped up to her new, private walkway that the city   
roofs had become. She stumbled to a halt and put the cat down.  
" What did I do?" she asked the cat. " What was that?"  
" One of your abilities, I guess. Now that I've seen you do   
it, it doesn't seem strange. I must have forgotten about it," the   
cat responded with another look of concern in his eyes. " You were   
really spooked there."  
" That wasn't good. I didn't think people would react like   
that. Oh, gods, I never thought I'd be afraid of a crowd."  
" That wasn't a crowd, Minako. That was a mob. Are you all   
right? You were really screaming back there."   
" I think so. Beld was really messing me up, until you   
distracted her. Thanks, Artemis. You saved my life there."  
" Beld? What, do you know her?" he said in surprise.   
" No, we were still in rapport when her concentration   
lapsed and the words came to me out of nowhere. It must have   
been Venus again. I think we're starting to learn how to work   
together, finally. When Beld died, I got a flash of images   
from her."  
" What about Beld? Who was she, where was she from? This   
could be the break we need to stop the Dark Kingdom." Artemis   
replied, excitedly.   
" She was a telepath in the armies of the Dark Kingdom.   
She was here on a scouting mission. They're planning something.   
I just can't make it out."  
Minako walked around in a circle for a few moments, and   
then reverted back to her normal self. It didn't feel so bad,   
today. She opened the bag and started to look through the   
contents as the cat looked on. The bag was full of maps.  
There were maps of Tokyo. These she recognized right   
away. The others were of an island she did not easily   
recognize, with several small circles in some areas. She   
looked at the characters on the map and translated them.   
" England? Why would she have maps of England?" she   
said to her companion. " I can understand Japan and Tokyo.   
Why England if she was here?"  
" Look! That page there. It's handwritten, not printed.   
Open it up so I can see it."   
Minako opened the note and held it so both could look   
at it. The characters were unfamiliar to her, but Artemis   
had swung both his ears forward and tensed. He looked just   
like a cat concentrating on a mouse.  
" That looks like writing from an Old Earth language.   
It hasn't been used since the end of the Silver Millennium."  
" How do you know that?"  
" Atlantis sank, silly. That's were Beryl had her   
staging area. I can make out a few words. The language   
must have changed over the intervening years. These symbols   
mean 'magic' and this one modifies it to mean large or   
great. This is 'hero' and this translates out to 'rock.' " He   
paused as he thought about the others. " I think this one is   
'blade' and this is 'ring.' The others I'm not too sure about.   
I wasn't up on my Atlantean."  
She thought about it for a few moments when something   
started nagging at her. She searched her memories for a few   
moments and came up blank.  
" What is magic? I know it seems a foolish question   
right now, but what is it?"  
The cat sighed and put on his best instructor's   
demeanor. " Magic is energy. It comes from all living   
beings and has to do with their being alive. This type   
is normally the stronger. The other has to do with what   
people believe in. This type has to do with faith. If someone   
believes in something, a portion of their energy is instilled   
in it. It is normally not as strong as the first, but if enough   
people believe in the same thing-"  
" Wait!" She interjected. " Faith, like religion? Or is   
it just 'faith' in something. What if a bunch of people believed   
in the same story? Could that be a concentration of energy?"  
He nodded to her. " I don't see where you're taking this,   
though."   
Minako pulled out the map of England. She stabbed her   
finger at one of several spots that were circled. " Rock.   
Ring. Stonehenge."  
Artemis frowned. " But what is the other? Blade. Hero.   
What's the connection?"  
Minako snapped her fingers in triumph.  
" Arthur!"  
He looked up at her and sat down on his haunches,   
clearly startled. " They still believe in that old story?   
After all these years? This is real bad. Minako, we have to   
go there. Now! If they can tap that kind of power, the combined   
faith of a nation that has built up for that long, they'll be   
able to break Serenity's seal and take over the Earth. They'll   
be unstoppable."  
  
***********************************************************  
  
The two had raced back to her house in order to figure   
out what to do next. Minako used the stairs while Artemis took   
his shortcut through a tree, and they met in her bedroom.   
" How are we ever going to get to England, Artemis.   
I don't have that kind of money. I'm just a kid to most people.   
They won't let me go there alone."  
He paced back and forth on the desk, his tail switching as   
he considered the alternatives. He looked at the computer she had   
at the far wall and a plan began to form.   
First the computer, and now the excuse.  
" Minako, is your father still at work? Can we get there   
before he leaves?"   
She looked at the clock and nodded. It was only three   
o'clock. " I don't think the buses can, but I can, if you don't   
mind being carried. He only works a few miles away."  
" Good. First, I want you to turn on that computer. Then I   
want you to go make a snack of some sort and pack it to go. We're   
going to go visit your father."  
  
**************************************************************  
  
" Hi, Miss Aino! What brings you here today?" the secretary   
said to her with a smile. Mr. Aino's daughter was always a welcome   
visitor due to her cheerful disposition and the sweets she sent in   
for her father's co-workers.   
Minako set her bags down to give the cat a chance to get out.   
She saw him scamper off around the corner and smiled back at the   
woman after giving her a short, impulsive bow. " I thought I'd   
surprise him today. Is he in his office?"  
" Yes, go right on in. He's not in a meeting or on the   
phone right now."  
" Thanks! " she replied and picked up the now-lighter load   
and went further into the maze of corridors on the second floor.   
She took the familiar path to her dad's office and smiled at   
the greetings she got.   
" Hi, Dad! " she said as she opened the door. " Surprise!"  
" Hi, sweetheart. What brings you in here today? " He sat   
back and looked around conspiratorially. " Did your mother say   
no to a raise in your allowance?"  
" Dad! Stop it. I just wanted to surprise you today." She   
took out a package from one of her bags and handed it to him. Here   
are a bunch of cookies for you and your friends here. What are   
you designing today?" she said, indicating the computer in front   
of him. " I know that's a CAD program."   
He laughed and made some room in front of the terminal for   
her.   
He tapped in the save command and then spent several minutes   
showing her the portion of a building he was working on. A knock   
on the door interrupted them.  
" Mr. Aino. I'm glad you're here. Hello, Minako," her   
father's supervisor said warmly as he came in and took a seat.   
Minako stood, bowed respectfully, and made to leave.  
" No, please stay, Miss Aino. This will only take a   
moment. Get ready to pack your bags, little girl. There is   
a company in England that we've been dealing with that wants   
an engineer to consult with on a project. I'm sending your   
father there for this assignment. He's done great work here   
for us here and I think that he's the best person we have for   
the job."  
She giggled to herself. So that's what he was up to. She   
smiled eagerly and turned to her father. " That's great, Daddy.   
Can we go, please? I've been wanting to go there for so long.   
We've been studying about it in school"   
Her father nodded and spoke to his supervisor. " How   
long of an assignment are we talking about here? This is very   
sudden."  
" It should be about three months. The firm in England   
contacted me a few days ago and I just made my final decision.   
They will be covering the expense of the visit. We have a hotel   
lined up for now, and they are looking into a house for you to   
stay in and a tutor for your daughter to help cover her missed   
schooling here.   
" They do need you right away, however. The plane leaves   
tomorrow evening at around eight. What do you say?"  
" I'd be glad to, sir. It sounds like a good assignment.   
Thank you for the opportunity." her father replied.  
" That's good, very good. My secretary, Kimiko, has the   
tickets being sent over and the paperwork being drawn up. Check   
with her when you leave today for them. You'll need tomorrow to   
pack, so don't bother coming in."   
He turned and left after snagging a cookie as she   
congratulated her father. She was excited about the trip, even   
though the prospects of what she might face there scared her.   
She barely heard her father's supervisor speaking to someone   
outside.  
" -and one other thing. That cat got up on my windowsill   
again somehow. Please go get him down, and give him some milk   
or fish or something."  
  
***********************************************************  
  
" Good evening." the girl said cheerfully with a forced   
smile on her face as the door opened. The older man stepped   
back in surprise at the cloth covered plate she pushed into   
his hands.  
" What's this for?" he questioned her.  
" My cousin decided to rent the apartment you showed   
to me last weekend." She piled several pieces of paper and   
an envelope filled with currency on top of the cloth as   
she continued. " Here is the rental agreement and information   
forms he picked up last night, the first and last month's rent,   
and a plate of cookies for you."  
She smiled at him again and bowed quickly, the brown hair   
in her ponytail bobbing up and down. Please say yes, she thought   
desperately. I couldn't take it in that foster home and I think   
I'll go crazy or kill somebody if they try the orphanage again.  
The man frowned for a moment and then relented with a   
smile at her hopeful expression. " All right, we'll do it. I   
was expecting to see your cousin, however. I had thought he   
would be handling this."  
" I'm sorry, sir, but he had to take on a second job   
because of me. My parents died several months ago and he was   
the only one of my family who would take me in." Actually, none   
of them had, she thought bitterly. Her 'cousin' had been a close   
friend of hers. Both her parent's families had been against the   
marriage and she was treated as an outcast by both branches. She   
forced herself to continue past the sudden tightness in her throat   
at the memory of her parents.  
"His old apartment was too small for two people, so he got   
a second job to cover the new expenses and he's looking for a   
new job closer to this area. He'll be around on some of the   
weekends, however. Sometimes the commute is tough enough for him   
to rent out a coffin near work, sometimes. I handle keeping up   
the house so he won't have to do that also. He's pretty exhausted   
doing this and it's very sweet of him."  
The weekends were the only time her friend could come over   
and pretend to be her cousin. She was tall enough to put on a   
guys clothing and come and go a few times at night to help keep   
up the illusion of two people staying there. As long as the   
insurance checks continued to come, she'd be all right.  
The man turned and rummaged through a drawer near him. He   
took out a set of keys which he put down while he signed the   
forms and counted the cash and made her a receipt. Then he   
handed her the keys.  
" Here you go, Miss Kino. I'm very sorry about your parents   
and I hope that you enjoy your stay here."  
" Please, call me Mako-chan. Everybody does," she said back   
with another smile, this one not as forced.  
  
****************************************************************  
  
" There is a danger here, master." the boy said. He looked   
at the old man before him. The years had not been kind to one who   
had eluded their touch for so long. The master's face was deeply   
lined by the sudden onset of old age in the last several years. He   
wished all the others who slept could be here to help the three of   
them. The only other person in the room dozed before the fireplace,   
his broad shoulders blocking most of the light.  
" I know, young one. It is our job to face it." he paused to   
cough a few times, hoarse dry coughs that brought him no relief   
from the fluid in his lungs. " We have to protect the realm, but   
only if someone in the realm defends it first. If nobody does, then   
the dream is dead and the realm is not worth protecting. Those are   
the rules the dreamer gave us."  
The boy thought about this for a few minutes. The particulars   
about this case that confronted them were slightly different from   
the normal emergencies. " Master, what if the threat is one who   
should defend the realm, like in this case?"   
The old man smiled at the eagerness that the boy approached   
the problem with. The lad wasn't sure of himself yet, but he will   
be someday. He'll make a fine successor for him to pass the reins   
to. " Then, someone will come from outside the realm to protect it,   
just like the legends say."   
  
**************************************************************  
  
The old place doesn't look the same, he thought to himself   
with a touch of homesickness. The fields that were his were now   
tracts of housing on the outskirts of London. He shrugged off the   
emotion. It was a luxury for him that he could not afford.  
He had come a long way since he had last left his fields.   
He had been a successful and prosperous farmer at one time, with   
an eye for opportunity. He had convinced several farmers near him   
to cooperate with him and pool their crops together, which he sold   
in nearby Londonium, as the Romans had called it. Some of the   
natives had still called it that in his time.  
The profits he had made were split up among the other   
farmers, with his getting a double share for his work in selling   
it. This had enabled him to own and have several farms operated   
for him by the time he was thirty. Then he heard the siren call   
of power. The attack on the Moon Kingdom promised much in the way   
of spoils and power if it succeeded. While most considered it a   
myth, he knew better. He had spent much of his free time in the   
libraries the Romans had left and consulting with the traders who   
visited the growing city. There was a kingdom up there, and it was   
rich beyond his wildest dreams.   
He sold off his farms and that of his partners, as they had   
made him the manager of their affairs. He used that money to   
outfit enough troops to give him a position of rank in the armies   
that were forming up on Atlantis as Beryl readied her attack on the   
Moon Kingdom.  
The ensuing battle was a nightmare. Most of his troops were   
unskilled farmers eager for the glory he had promised them to lure   
them to his side. They died to a man in the first clash with the   
Guard on the moon. He had barely escaped his death there, but the   
press of numbers had prevailed and the Guard had been defeated.   
Then the nightmare got worse. Several women in strange   
costumes slashed in from all sides at Beryl's forces. They were   
unstoppable, going through ranks of armed men like he had once   
gone through rows of wheat with his scythe. The elements   
themselves seemed to conspire against them as the women bested   
the remainder of Beryl's mercenaries. He had seen a bird made of   
fire rise from the legends he had read. Others told tales of   
wondrous and terrible sights; ice that fell from the sky,   
waves without oceans, shafts of sunlight that burned, a shrieking   
madwoman with a sword that went through iron and flesh without   
seeming to notice the difference, and lightning that fell from   
the cloudless skies of the moon.  
Later, after he had learned of the personalities of those   
involved and the powers used, he was able to piece together what   
had happened after he somehow had made it to the rallying point   
around Beryl. She had her agents preparing long and well for this.   
The mercenaries had all just been cannon fodder to exhaust the   
Guard and slow down the Sailor Senshi. On Earth, monasteries and   
churches were ransacked and libraries plundered all over what   
was to be known as Europe. Priceless works of art, rare and   
valuable tomes, people and the whole kingdom of Atlantis were   
sacrificed to gain power for Beryl, and those times truly became   
the Dark Ages. The 'sacrifice' spells gave power based on the   
value of what was sacrificed. She had used this to annihilate   
the senshi in one blast and destroy the Moon Kingdom. She was   
sure she had her triumph, for her enemy did nothing to resist   
her destruction.  
Serenity; however, did the one thing Beryl could not   
anticipate and would never consider. Her hired mages would not   
do it, either. The sacrifice spell gives one power in relation   
to the value of the item to the one who sacrificed it.   
Serenity sacrificed her life. In one awesome blast of white   
light, the scales were tipped. The remaining several hundred troops   
loyal to Beryl who had made it to her standard were sealed away in   
the darkness, sealed away from the Earth. Metallia was comatose,   
and Beryl not much better for several years. The generals who   
Beryl had bewitched took over running the remaining troops and   
exploring this new land that they were in. None of their efforts   
could break the seal. They learned to support themselves and eke   
out an existence in the darkness.  
They used their tactics to carve a kingdom from the monsters   
around them. The more intelligent and humanoid of the monsters were   
subjugated. Some could cross breed with the refugees from Earth and   
those children became the hideous youma. They would be the cannon   
fodder of the next war. The remaining troops became the officer   
corps for the growing armies. As the survivors grew older, they   
made a startling discovery. Whatever happened on the moon had   
changed them in one way. They were not aging as fast as their   
children, and would enjoy a life that was long enough to give   
them a hope of getting revenge on the ones who had banished   
them here.  
  
************************************************************  
  
He returned to the problems of the present. If he could   
manage to pull off his plans here, he could get his revenge on   
Beryl for using him like that. He went to a public garden near   
his old home and stretched out under a tree there. The smell of   
the roses reminded him of all he had lost here and had to go   
through in the past thousand years. The flowers and the other   
growing things were the things he had missed most of all in the   
Dark Kingdom.   
The two power sources were of different kinds. Stonehenge   
was a node, a rare gathering point of magical energies. When he   
was younger, he had wondered why the druids had put the stones   
there. Now, he knew. It was a great source of power, but tricky   
to work because of the sheer magnitude.   
He had worked with the small node in the Dark Kingdom that   
sat under Beryl's castle. This one was not really that much   
different except for the sheer size. His mage sight had told him   
that much during his studies. It would be his first goal, as he   
was confident he could control it.  
The other had truly surprised him. He had heard the stories   
when he was a youngster. There were still bards in those times, and   
he had thrilled to the exploits of the boy who became king and drove   
invaders from his land. The tale had persisted over the years and   
spread and grew, until many besides those from England truly   
believed the tale that he still rested, waiting to protect it.   
Glastonbury Abbey was the supposed resting site of King   
Arthur. He knew better from the stories of his time. They were   
not distorted by a millennia of artisans exploiting it for their   
own gain. The bards of his days were honored and revered, and   
held true to the tradition of passing down stories without change.   
Glastonbury Tor was his point of attack. That was the place   
where Arthur was supposed to rest in. According to his mage sight,   
the hill was the focal point of this power, not the Abbey. That   
building was just an attempt by the followers of the Christ to   
absorb a pagan legend.  
It was too soon to try anything, however. He decided to   
stop operations in Tokyo and concentrate on England. This would   
give him more time to study the situation here and keep him away   
from the Dark Kingdom where he would be observed more readily. The   
moon was full right now and he did not want to challenge these   
places at the peak of their power. He would wait until the new   
moon in a few weeks and do it then. The power he would gain if he   
was successful would still be more than enough for his purpose. He   
considered the irony of it. A Briton was about to steal the   
power from the ultimate protector of Britain.   
He stood and stretched as he walked over to the rose garden   
and chose two of the best there. One was for his quarters so he   
could remember his home and the place he was about to try and   
conquer. The other was for his commander. He'd take it and give   
it to Zoisite, and the two would be too smitten to think straight   
for a week or more. That should keep Kunzite from realizing what   
was between the lines in his reports long enough for him to make   
his play.   
  
***************************************************************  
  
Minako was frantically packing her clothes and trying to   
figure out what she really needed for an extended stay in another   
country and possibly saving the world. She looked over at the cat   
who slept contentedly in the sun. He'd done his work earlier in   
the day.  
With her permission, he had gently altered the memories of   
her parents to make him seem like a pet they had for several years.   
She had her misgivings, but his arguments were correct. He had to   
go to England with her. It would take him too long on his own to   
get there, and sneak through customs to avoid the quarantine they   
put on animals traveling from one country to another. That was   
worse than a prison to him. He could handle customs with her   
help.   
Last night, he had explained what he had done to her   
father's supervisor.  
" I told you before that I would never use my mind to   
do anything to you, Minako.The reason you never saw much of me   
was that eventually I have to change someone's memories if they see   
me too many times. The spell I use that masks me will only affect   
a person for so long. After that, they'll start to notice the   
crescent mark. I never wanted to have to do that to you or your   
parents, so I stayed away from you most of the time. I stayed out   
of sight, and therefore out of mind.  
" The same doesn't apply to anyone else. What we are doing   
is far too important. I changed your father's supervisor's   
decision on this project. He was going to give it the son of   
a business partner of his in a company he has stock in as a   
gift to keep his partner happy. I kept him from sending your   
father away to a position in Hokkaido two years ago, and made   
him give your father the promotion he deserved and got last   
Christmas. Your father deserved it, and I saw that he got it.   
" It also insured that you would not be moved away from   
this area. I found you here after searching all over the world.   
I think I woke up about when you were born, Minako. I roamed all   
over Europe, and when I didn't find anyone I recognized, I went   
west to the United States. I still didn't find anyone that I knew.   
When I arrived in Tokyo a year before I found you, something felt   
right about it. When I did find you, I decided that I would not   
lose you.   
" Furthermore, I found you here. If any of the other Sailor   
Senshi are to be found, it will probably be here. I will not lose   
you again, Minako. I will sacrifice anything, including my life,   
to be able to find the Moon Princess and protect both you and her."  
She sat down suddenly, overwhelmed by the force of his   
convictions. Then, she realized something. " You said again.   
When did you lose me before? "   
The cat replied in a quiet, sad voice. " I lost you when   
the Moon Kingdom was destroyed. I know you're Minako Aino, but   
you're also Sailor Venus. I was friends with the Sailor Senshi,   
and the pain I suffered when Beryl destroyed them was nothing I   
plan on going through again."  
She picked him up and held him to her as he shook from the   
pain of the emotions he was remembering. She recalled him saying   
that there was a bond between them. If the pain she was feeling   
was part of that, he must be in anguish right now.  
She thought she was having problems with adjusting to being   
Venus. He'd been alone for at least thirteen years, with nobody to   
talk to or relate to and had a mission to fulfill while not even   
knowing what to do to accomplish it. She'd held him until he had   
gone to sleep, and then gently put him on pillow to let him rest.   
  
************************************************************  
  
  
Minako slipped out of her room and walked to the stairs at   
the end of the hallway. The separate rooms that Artemis had   
arranged through her computer had been very welcome. She couldn't   
have been doing this every night if she was in the same room as   
her parents.   
England was a very different place than Japan. Gray and   
gloomy, she thought. The only bright spot was what she was learning.   
Her skill with the language had been improving steadily since her   
arrival a week and a half ago.  
True to his word, customs had been a breeze for Artemis   
with her help. She had simply stuck him in a bag and he had suffered   
through the long flight with her in the passenger compartment. At   
customs, he merely made himself 'unremarkable' for a moment and the   
customs agent had merely thought it was a stuffed animal the girl   
had in there. She had kept the vacant look and sweet smile up for   
as long as she could and he was busier looking at her than her bags.   
Sailor V had been making appearances in England with a great   
deal of success and the press was now fully into the swing. She even   
could be a princess again, if the stories in the tabloids were   
correct. The older of the two young princes was apparently head   
over heels in love with her, and one was even running a story   
that she was meeting him for romantic trysts at night on the   
castle grounds. Her real nightly excursions had been into a   
different world than what her textbooks told her about England.   
She had stayed in the worst areas of town and broken up several   
fights and robberies, and rescued a few others.  
There had been no signs of the gray uniforms. There weren't   
any magical disturbances, either. At least, none they could detect.   
She had gone on a tour of several tourist spots on their second day   
there, including Stonehenge and Glastonbury with her mother and a cat   
hiding in a bag. There was nothing unusual about what was going on   
there. She had returned to the hotel with her mind full of questions.   
They had discussed it on the night after the tour and decided   
Sailor V needed to generate some publicity to turn up the heat   
and see if anything was flushed from it's cover.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
" It's better than we could have dreamed about, sir," the   
younger man said to his supervisor. " She's was seen here for   
about a week and now she's in London. It's perfect. We've got a   
super-heroine who travels the globe and fights crime. No licensing   
fees. Free advertising from the press."  
" I know. The staff in the model department has been working   
overtime on this since the word broke out she was spotted in London   
on last Monday. We expect to have the lawyers' decision tomorrow.  
" In the meantime, get some people to start on designs for   
buttons, patches and anything else we can put her likeness on. Then   
go see the video game people. Tell them to drop whatever they are   
working on and adapt their engines for games with her. We'll ride   
this wave as far as we can. The profits could be remarkable on this   
one."  
" And then I'll go check on the animation studio, sir," the   
younger man said with a predatory smile.  
  
*********************************************************  
  
This couldn't be going better than if I planned it, Azarite   
thought to himself. The situation in the Dark Kingdom was one of   
chaos. General Nephrite had led a campaign to have himself made   
the commander of the armies that would attack the Earth. Kunzite   
held that position and was not about to give it up for anything.   
Zoisite, who was Kunzite's biggest supporter, had gotten mad at   
Kunzite due to something Nephrite had said to him and he had turned   
on Kunzite and belittled him in public before the throne. Jadeite   
simply stood out of the way. Nobody knew where Nephrite got his   
information, but Azarite thanked several deities for the timing.   
The day after tomorrow, he would make his move. The uproar   
in the ranks of the generals had kept them from their normal   
duties and no concerns had been raised at his recommending that   
Tokyo was to be disregarded as a source of energy. Two agents had   
been lost there, and no information had been gained on the magic   
there. He had reported that there were too many variables there,   
and suggested that operations be halted while he concentrated on   
the delicate situation in England.   
The prospect of the power available in England had blinded   
Beryl to his machinations, thanks to the distractions the generals   
had provided. He had not mentioned anything of the problem that   
this Sailor V person might represent. That would cause the generals   
and Beryl to drop everything to concentrate on what appeared to be   
an old enemy who had returned. His curtailing of many of the   
scouting missions, and the misdirection of the others into the   
uninhabited areas had worked. He didn't think that any of his   
troopers had even heard of her or seen any of the papers that   
covered her exploits.   
He'd have to be careful, of course. She could show up at   
any time, but he had a defense against her. Drake had been thrilled   
at the prospect of combat with one of these legendary enemies, and   
had sworn an oath of loyalty to Azarite in exchange for the chance   
to hunt her down. He hadn't seen Drake for a couple of days, but he   
was not too concerned. Drake was not bright, but he was extremely   
cunning. He'd figure out a way to flush her out and then he would   
destroy her.  
  
************************************************************  
  
" Don't these kids do anything but fight," she remarked to   
her companion as they perched on a roof. " Arsenal this, Manchester   
that, and the next thing you know there is a brawl going on that the   
bobbies don't even want to break up because they're arguing it out   
among themselves."  
" Don't be too harsh, Minako," the cat laughed. " I saw the   
look on you're face when that pop star showed up at the hotel the   
other night. You were ready to turn into Venus just to get up   
there for an autograph. I saw you start to reach for _the_ pen,   
and it wasn't for him to sign something with."  
" I did not!" she exclaimed in her defense. " That girl in   
front me of had sent my other pen flying with her elbow. That big   
cow did it on purpose."  
" Now, now," the cat said, trying to placate his partner.   
As the fight before them began to calm down, a large figure   
walked up from out of an alley. " It looks like I'm almost too   
late for the fun, lads." He wore a green, white and orange flag   
draped over his shoulders. He looked at the apparent winners and   
sneered at them. " You Manchester fans are a bunch of poofters.   
Arsenal isn't any better. The lads over in Dublin would eat 'em   
alive if you weren't afraid to play in the same league."  
This was too much for the group of young men. With a roar   
of outrage, enemies became allies as they staggered up and rushed   
the newcomer. He awaited them with a smile. The flag was flung   
into the face of the first victim as he delivered a powerful   
forward kick that sent the young man flying to the accompaniment   
of several broken ribs.  
The rest didn't even stop. They piled onto the large man,   
but the pair observing the fight from the roof top had seen   
enough. The antagonist had been wearing a gray uniform under   
the Irish flag. As they leaped down to the street, the man was   
laying about him with a passion and sending bodies flying. The   
last of the toughs fell to the ground as Minako came running up.   
The giant turned to her.  
She gasped in surprise. From a distance, he had not looked   
so big. Up close, she could see he was a monster. About a foot   
and a half taller, and probably twice or more her weight. She'd   
have to be careful here. She'd already made the mistake of   
getting in too close for her crescent beam, she chided herself   
as she slid her feet into a combat position. She wouldn't have   
the time to fire it off before he could hit her.   
He looked at her for a moment and then spoke in a deep   
rumble. " You're that girl in the papers. They taught us about   
you. The Sailor Senshi were supposed to be the best the Moon   
Kingdom had to offer. I've always wanted to fight one of you." A   
savage grin spread across his face. " My name is Drake. Your head   
will make a worthy trophy!"   
He darted forward and swung a roundhouse at her. It was fast,   
but not fast enough. She ducked under the punch and stepped slightly   
to her left and forward so she was facing the side he had left open   
as his punch went past. She hammered two short, quick punches into   
his kidneys. He didn't even notice.   
A backhand slap came in, far faster than the original punch.   
It struck her squarely in the face, staggering her and sending her   
mask flying. She tried to move out of the way of what was next, but   
to no avail. That first punch had been designed to throw her off   
her guard and make her think he was slow. He wasn't.  
The man turned to face her and then planted his left foot   
forward and to _her_ left. She struggled and raised her arms up   
to try and block. This was going to hurt. The spinning kick   
smashed through her guard like it wasn't there. She felt   
several things break inside as she impacted against the wall   
that was several feet behind her.  
Before she even had the time to slide down the wall, a   
massive fist slammed into her stomach. She collapsed over it   
from the force of the blow and lost her breath. She could taste   
blood. She must be bleeding internally from one of those hits.  
Artemis stood in shock at the sight before him. It had   
happened so quickly he hadn't been able to do anything. She crumpled   
to the ground after the last hit and managed to roll over onto her   
back. He could see the blood staining her clothes. Not again, he   
cried to himself. Not again. I won't lose her again. He snarled   
and rushed the Dark Kingdom warrior. At the last moment, he darted   
to the side and leaped, hoping to avoid a counter-attack.  
The hope was futile. The man quickly pivoted out of the   
way and swatted the cat halfway to the end of the street. Artemis   
landed and skidded into a ball that did not move. Minako bit back a   
cry as the pain from trying to call his name hit her. She could   
barely draw a breath. She watched as he walked over to her and   
noticed she was alive.  
" You're tougher than you look. That should have killed you.   
You'd have made a good opponent with some training." He put one   
massive boot on her chest and applied a small amount of   
pressure. " Unfortunately, you won't get that training. I have   
to kill you now."  
She winced at the pain and looked up at him. She knew that   
she would probably die here. She couldn't see any way out. Why now,   
after she had just found out who she was? She wouldn't be able to   
see her sisters-in-arms. Her parents. Artemis. They had gone through   
so much for her. She wouldn't see them again. Her duty would not   
be finished. Venus, Minako thought, I need you now. I can't do it   
on my own. We can do it, together. I know now that this is the way   
it must be. We are one and the same now, not two different people   
in the same body. I was wrong to think that.  
Something moved in her, something old and hard, and she felt   
the energy gather in her. She looked up at the monster above her,   
who was clearly enjoying her pain and suffering. " They never told   
you what happened to Beld, did they?" she rasped out in harsh   
whisper. She reached up and took hold of the man's leg with her   
left hand and closed her fist on the fabric around his knee. She   
pulled herself up slightly so she could see him clearly through   
the red haze obscuring her vision. He bent down to look at her,   
expecting another statement from her.   
Now, she thought to herself. The sigil on her forehead shone   
with orange fire as she forced the words past the pain of her   
broken ribs. " Crescent..." It hurt so much to say it, the pressure   
in her chest was so bad. She flung her right arm up and pointed it   
at his face. " ...Beam."   
The pain coursed through her as the energy did. She fell   
into the blackness of oblivion.   
  
**************************************************************  
  
The black cat dragged herself up into the tree. Traveling   
all through the night had exhausted her, but she had been so near   
her goal she was compelled to reach it as soon as possible. The   
noises outside had died down as the flood of children going to   
school dropped off to a trickle and then stopped.  
This place finally felt right. For years, she had been driven   
to find a certain place. This was it. Now, she could really rest.   
The tree promised to be a good spot for a long sleep. There was a   
wide flat branch to rest on, and the leaves would let in enough   
sunlight to keep her pleasantly warm but not overheat her due to   
her black coat. She stretched lazily and curled up into a ball,   
with the tip of her tail covering her nose.  
In a few moments, she was sound asleep. The ending of the   
world would probably not even wake her up. Only one of her ears   
barely gave the hint of twitching as a young girl ran by underneath   
the tree with a piece of toast in one hand.   
" Why didn't they get me up sooner?!? I'm going to be so   
late!!" she cried as she ran past, her long blonde hair fanning  
out behind her in twin streams that descended from the two small  
odango on her head.  
  
**************************************************************  
  
" There, lad. What did I tell you?"  
" It's just like the legends said, Master. Can we help them   
now?"  
He smiled again at the boy's eagerness. His heart was truly   
in the right place. The old man felt much better now. The prospect   
of action seemed to ease his old pains, even if the only thing he   
would be doing was sitting here and giving orders. Well, almost   
the only thing.  
" Yes. Go and get your things ready."  
The boy dashed off with all the eagerness of youth that   
the old man wished he had now. He turned to the other man, who   
was sitting in the far corner and putting an edge on a wicked   
looking lochaber axe.   
" Percy?"   
The other looked up, happy to hear the familiar banter   
once again. The old man had been inactive for too long and it   
had worried him.  
" You know that isn't my name, you old fool. What is   
it now?"  
" Please go and dig up that casket I had you bury back   
when we started here. Be very careful with the contents, as   
the container is bound to have gotten a bit fragile over the   
years."  
" I go to all that work to get it and now you think I'll   
drop it or use it to water the daisies. You're impossible, old   
man. Of course I'll be careful. I know better than you what is   
in there." He left to get a shovel and a pick. They would have   
to be there soon and time was important.   
The old man looked at him as he left and softly replied to   
the empty room. " Thank you, Percival."  
  
************************************************************  
  
She was hurt. Badly. She could tell that much, even as   
she drifted in the darkness. There had to be a couple of ribs   
damaged, if not outright broken. Probably some internal organs,   
also. She could still taste blood in her mouth, and her breathing   
was labored and had a bubbly feel to it that she did not like at all.   
I'm dying, she thought. Is this what it is like? I thought   
it would hurt more. Everything seems to be sort of detached from   
me, like it really isn't happening to me.  
Voices seemed to come to her, but they seemed far away,   
distant.   
" Over here. She's badly hurt." A young voice, clear and   
even. He'd make a wonderful singer, she thought. An older   
voice, deep and gravelly, responded.  
" Don't be in such a hurry. If she is still breathing,   
we can take care of her with it. Will you look at those   
clothes? I thought they had gotten funny the last time I was   
here during the real Great War. How is the other one?"   
" You mean the cat?"  
" No, I mean the one without a head who's dissolving.   
Yes, I mean the cat."   
" Badly bruised and unconscious, but he'll live. He's   
made of sterner stuff than he looks. About a drop, I think.   
She'll need more."  
Artemis must be alive, she thought. She could let go   
now. He could still finish the mission. The princess would   
be safe. She felt herself start to slip further away from what   
was happening. She didn't mind dying so much now. She felt   
something out there that called to her, and she longed to   
join it in the blackness.  
" She's going, Percival. Get it, quickly."  
" Don't worry, lad. This here is mighty potent. She'll   
be all right after a sip."  
Something cold was pressed against her lips. She   
swallowed the water by reflex. It seemed to help. The pain   
inside her seemed to recede away. She felt parts of her   
insides seem to churn a moment and then agony as her broken   
bones set themselves back together. She screamed once, softly,   
and then began to sob as the pain was suddenly gone.   
" That wasn't what it was like the first time," the older   
voice commented.   
" His soul was sick, and he drank straight from it," the   
younger replied as he showed off his learning to the older   
man. " Her injuries are physical, and she is one step removed.   
Look, the sign on her forehead is glowing. The master said that   
she would be all right when that happened."  
Minako opened her eyes and looked around her. She still   
lay on the street, but her body was blissfully free of the   
pain. She looked up to her two benefactors. They made a strange   
pair. The boy was only about seven or eight, but had a fierce   
intensity to his gaze and couldn't seem to sit still for a   
moment. The man was almost as big as the beast that she had   
just fought, but had a look of gentleness to him that was a   
distinct contrast to the axe slung over his back.   
" Who are you?" she said to the pair. " What happened?"  
The boy sat next to her and helped her to sit up. " I'm   
one of the Merlin. My friend there is Percy. We came here to   
help you. Your friend will be all right." he said, indicating   
the cat next to her. Artemis had been moved and put on top of   
a blanket.  
" We call him the sprout, lassie. One minute he was   
barely up to my knee, and look at him now. I figure he's   
decided to become a tree, from the way he's growing up so   
fast." Percy said to her. " Don't let him fool you with that   
'Merlin' stuff. It will be a long time till he's one of them."  
The boy looked slightly crestfallen. Minako gave him a   
smile of gratitude and he perked right up. She giggled softly,   
just for a moment, to spare him too much embarrassment at his   
reaction to her smile. " Thank you. What was that you gave me?"   
" Percy was the one who found the Holy Grail," the boy   
said.   
" What!" she cried out.   
" He's Percival; the Percival in the legend." the boy   
patiently explained. " When he gave Arthur a drink from it,   
the king was healed, as was the land. The Merlin who was there   
took the remaining water and hid it away from the curious and   
the evil-doers. We gave you just a little bit to heal you. You   
were starting to die."  
" This is a little hard to believe," she said. She looked   
closely at the youth before her. " Aren't you a little short to   
be Merlin? He's taller, with white hair and a long white beard."  
The man answered her. " It's _the_ Merlin, lass. It's a   
title, not a name. The bards erred and turned it into a name.   
The sprout here will be one of the Merlin someday, if he keeps   
his learning up." He took a deep breath and conjured up some old   
and painful memories. " I came back to the battle after returning   
Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. Merlin took the few surviving   
knights with him to guard England, just as Arthur had wanted us   
to. It was the King's dream to have a land where doing the right   
thing was important, not how strong you were or how big an army   
you could raise. Me and the knights had sworn an oath to fulfill   
that dream, and Arthur's death wouldn't stop us from obeying it.   
" The Merlin put most of 'em to sleep to wait until they   
would be needed. They've kept me alive to help them stand guard.   
We watch over England from the realm of Faerie, and if need be,   
we'll awaken the King." He took a small stone jar from inside   
his shirt. After working the stopper out, he carefully put one   
tiny drop of a liquid that glowed like sunlight onto Artemis'   
tongue. The cat's eyes started to open, and he blinked a few   
times as he took in his surroundings.   
" That should be good enough for credentials, lass. Tell   
her, sprout. We can't stay all night here."  
" He's right, Mistress Venus. We have to be getting back   
to help my master. He's the Merlin right now. He told me of the   
stories of the Moon and of who you were and what you had done.   
I'm sorry your kingdom was lost also. It sounded like it was as   
glorious as Camelot in some ways."   
The boy stood up and gave her a warm smile. " We would   
like to thank you for your help in defending England. That is   
why we helped you. The one you seek is a traitor to his land. We   
cannot stop him, but my master can close off the place of power   
to him. He will go to usurp the power of the dreamer. You must   
protect the King, Mistress. The traitor will come to Glastonbury   
Tor soon and try to ruin the dream for everyone." Tears were running   
down his face as he continued to plead his case.  
" Please stop him, Mistress. More than this realm will suffer   
if he succeeds. The king never could imagine betrayal like this,   
my master said. We can only protect England from threats from the   
outside. The traitor was once an Englishman, and we can only hope   
that you will protect England from one of her sons gone astray."  
The two seemed to blur for a moment, and then faded away.   
  
*************************************************************  
  
They had somehow managed to make it back to the   
hotel after she collected her mask. She was still in a   
daze at the events of the evening and probably overpaid   
the cab driver by a large margin. She didn't care right   
now. All she could manage was to drag herself up the   
stairs to her room and make it to the bed. She put him   
on it and collapsed next to the already sleeping cat.  
Morning found them still asleep. At around noon,   
they both woke to a knock at her door.  
" Minako?" her mother called softly.   
She sat up in surprise, realizing the hour and   
dove under the covers. " Yes, Mom?"  
Her mother opened the door and looked in on her   
daughter. " Are you feeling better, dear? You sounded   
awfully tired this morning. We're back from looking at   
some houses. Will you join us for lunch?"  
" Lunch sounds great. I'll be over in about fifteen   
minutes."  
" We'll see you then, dear."  
Minako rushed into the bathroom to get changed and   
cleaned up after the door closed. When she swept past him   
fifteen minutes later, she paused for a moment.  
" What would you like for lunch, Artemis?"  
" Anything but what they do to a poor fish over here."  
" Right. You should see what they try to pass off   
as curry. One order of fish and chips, coming up!" she said   
brightly and scurried out the door. Artemis sighed and returned   
to his spot on the bed. Maybe room service would consider   
letting a cat sign for the bill.   
  
***********************************************************  
  
He's late, Azarite thought. Drake should have checked   
in by now. I think the girl got him. Drake knew that Azarite   
was going to do something on this date and would have checked   
in by now. This Sailor V was a problem he wished he did not   
have to face.  
He was about to make his play for power. If it worked,   
he would probably end up controlling the Dark Kingdom and the   
Earth. He had to handle the details correctly, or his bid   
would fail. He decided to deploy several troopers at the   
newer church in Glastonbury. The tor was the real focus of   
power, but the presence of several targets may tempt his   
enemy into striking at his decoys instead of himself. He had   
cut his group to the bare minimum for a scouting expedition   
and could not send these back. He'd have to make use of them,   
and it might as well be as cannon fodder.  
It would have to be tonight. It was a new moon, and all   
the parts were in place for him. He would strike at Stonehenge   
first. With the resulting power, the old king would be easy. If   
Stonehenge didn't work, he'd try Glastonbury Tor or he'd be   
dead. He knew the problems the node held as he had some   
experience with them in the past   
The power around the legend was a thornier problem.   
He still didn't know what kind of defenses it had, so he   
planned on that as his second choice. The place hadn't reacted   
to him or his mage sight when he was there, so he might get   
lucky. He didn't believe in luck and knew better than to plan   
on it, though.   
His preparations were complete. He had taken every crystal   
he had stored power in and had drained it to add to his personal   
supply. He had even siphoned enough power from the small node   
that Beryl controlled to fully charge his own energy. The crystals   
were nice for the long term, but I can't get the power from them   
quickly enough. The day had been spent in meditation and refreshing   
his memory from his books on spells and the abilities of the   
Sailor Senshi. He may have to face one tonight and he wanted to   
be ready for anything.  
The images of the slaughter on the moon came back to him   
for a moment and a chill ran down his back. He had remembered   
what the Sailor Senshi did to Beryl's army. He may have to face   
one of the demons from his dreams. The memory of that battle   
always gave him a healthy dose of respect. I can't underestimate   
her, or my life will be lost. I can't afford that right now, not   
when I'm so close.  
  
*************************************************************   
  
Minako bustled into the room, her arms full with a pair   
of grocery bags. She plopped these down on the bed and sorted   
through the contents. Three bottles of mineral water, enough   
brown sugar to make the clerk think she was crazy, several boxes   
of gelatin mix, an assortment of various pins, and a pair of   
pliers. She had some cooking to do, she thought with a grin.  
" It all looks good, Minako. What's for dinner?"  
" A mechanic's nightmare, " she replied with a grin that   
totally confused the cat. She had discussed the situation with   
Artemis and they had concocted a plan. She hadn't told him what   
she would do to the bus. She was going to have to spend the   
night at Glastonbury Tor. Her parents probably would not let   
her go camping alone, so they would have to resort to subterfuge.   
The ticket had been booked for the last tour that would arrive   
at her destination that night. The bus was going to make it   
there, but nothing short of a mechanical miracle would enable   
it to get back that night.  
That would cover the problem with her parents. They liked the   
fact she was so interested in this place and did not mind her going   
off with the tours. She got up and began heating water in the small   
electric range the thoughtful staff put in every room for making   
tea. She was very glad of the English love for the drink right   
now. When the water began boiling, she began to add the brown   
sugar and cooked it enough to make an easy pouring syrup. This   
went into the now emptied bottles after it had cooled down a ways.  
Artemis seemed somewhat surprised when she sat down   
with the pliers and started bending the pins into several   
odd looking shapes. " What are those, Minako?" he said after   
jumping up onto the table next to her work.   
" Lock picks," she replied as she worked. Artemis   
started in surprise and nearly fell off the table. She   
laughed softly at the surprised look on his face.  
" What are you doing with those?" the cat questioned   
her. " How do you even know how to use them?"   
" When I was in school during the last couple of years,   
something made me...no, I decided to start learning as much as   
I could about a lot of different things. I have to remember   
I'm really one person now. It takes some time to adjust. Anyway,   
I studied anything I could that I thought might be useful. One   
was how locks worked. Another was internal combustion engines   
and how they worked on automobiles."  
" What do automobiles have to do with this?" Artemis   
queried her. He was still slightly puzzled.  
" The bus is going to make it to Glastonbury. It will   
not leave there." She stood and reached behind her and pulled   
out her transformation pen and a knife from her dimensional   
pocket. This really startled the cat.  
" Minako! What are you doing with that?"  
" This is a war, Artemis. I'm making sure I'm ready for   
it. I realize now that it isn't a game."  
" This is a surprise. I never would have thought   
that you would carry something like that."  
" I just look like a dumb blonde, Artemis. I hope   
my enemies make the same mistake." She put the lock picks   
into a small bag and put them along with the other two   
items into her storage. The bottles of syrup went into her   
pack along with the gelatin and a few other odds and ends.   
She indicated the pack to the cat.  
" Your chariot awaits. Hop in, my friend. This is it."  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Azarite put his hands down and swore. Then he hit the   
stone he stood in front of and considered having a childish   
tantrum. It wouldn't solve anything, he thought to himself   
and sighed instead. It would feel good, though.  
The access should have been open to him. He'd followed   
the steps properly and hadn't made any mistakes. He should have   
the nigh-unimaginable power from the node flowing through him and   
be ready to rule the worlds.   
The node was closed to him. This should have not happened.   
Nothing was out of the ordinary to regular or mage sight. The   
node appeared as it should, a large gathering of power like a   
lake is a gathering of water. It was just that he couldn't take   
the power that was right in front of him. Nor could he figure   
out why.  
Several minutes were spent in consideration of the factors.   
He made his decision. He had not made a mistake. Therefore, this   
was a defense he did not know about. It was the only thing that   
made sense. Breaking into a run, he dashed back to the portal   
point to the Dark Kingdom to gate over to Glastonbury Tor. He   
hadn't a moment to lose. The defenses here might trigger something   
else at his secondary objective.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
The bus pulled to a stop at the foot of the path   
leading to the newer buildings at Glastonbury Abbey. It   
disgorged a group of tourists eager to catch the sights   
before the oncoming sunset ruined the light. One was a girl   
with long blond hair who took advantage of the room to walk   
around the bus to stretch her legs and confirm the location   
of the fuel tanks and where they were filled from. A white   
cat sat in her backpack and observed everything from inside   
the concealing veil of her hair.  
The last stop had worked out well. The rest of the tour had   
gone into a small church on the way as part of a short break   
during the trip. She had convinced the driver to take a break   
himself and go to a local shop for a quick cup of tea to warm   
his bones against the chill that was hitting so late in the   
season. He had left, reassured by her promise to watch the bus   
while he was gone. She thanked the turn the weather was taking   
as she went to the engine compartment and carefully removed the   
radiator cap with a towel to avoid being scalded. She then poured   
several packs of the gelatin into the water of the radiator   
and recapped it. The operating temperatures would boil the gelatin   
quite well. After the engine cooled down at the stop at their   
destination and the temperature had dropped, they'd have   
anti-freeze flavored orange gelatin.  
The tour left the bus for the trip through Glastonbury   
Abbey. She tagged along for a few minutes and then left the   
group without being noticed. She returned to the bus and   
removed her knife from her pocket and slashed all the tire   
stems while the cat stood guard. She replaced the knife and used   
the lock picks to open the locked caps of the fuel tanks. A bottle   
of the sugar syrup went into each.   
She wasn't sure if the brown sugar would affect the   
diesel fuel, but her other two measures would work. The bus   
would be lucky to get more than a few miles before the flats   
would occur or the engine died. By the time they got someone   
out to fix these, the water in the radiator would be a block   
of gelatin. They wouldn't be able to get that solved easily   
and the tour would be stranded. The tour company might be able   
to make some arrangements, but would probably have to put the   
tour up for the night. They'd contact her parents to let her   
know what happened and that would allay their suspicions if   
she survived the night.  
Minako snuck into the bushes and made her way to small   
clearing in the shrubs surrounding the newer buildings. She   
turned into Sailor V and pulled out a thick gray blanket which   
she wrapped around herself and pulled the cat in afterwards.   
It was going to be a while yet before the fireworks began and   
it was starting to get cold.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
After the bus left a few hours later, Minako was sure   
that one part of her plan had worked. The tires looked low   
and the engine sounded very labored. One part down, she thought.   
She was much stronger and faster now than when she was   
just Minako Aino. These were things she could only be as   
Sailor Venus or Sailor V. She also only had her ability to   
attack at range with her 'Crescent Beam' when she was   
transformed. She'd keep this fight at range. She did not   
want to close in if she could help it. There might be things   
like Drake that could hurt her here. Her early success with   
her martial arts and the way she could now integrate it all   
had made her make a mistake in choosing to close with Drake   
and Beld. She's stick with a sniping match, if she could help it.  
" ...That's it exactly." The voice came to her out of   
nowhere from the deep recesses of memory. " Stay with what   
you know you can do. You can't beat her up close so stay..."   
She started in surprise at the memories that she just recalled.   
They were only distant voices, like she was remembering a   
lecture from a long time ago.  
The cat hadn't even noticed as he half-drowsed on her   
lap. It was time for her to get moving, she thought. She folded   
up the blanket and hid her pack after a quick drink of water.   
She then glided out into the night to see what her enemy was up   
to.  
She found several of the gray uniforms near the newer   
buildings. Two were on guard at the entrance to the actual   
church. The rest were clumped together around what appeared to   
be a small fire under the protecting roof of a two level parking   
garage. Something was in the darkness behind them, but it seemed   
to be darker than the shadows themselves.  
Her best firing position would be to one side of the   
two and moved so she until was on a line with the two of them and   
away from the group at the structure. She took a deep breath   
and began to let the energy accumulate inside her. She'd need   
just a little more than normal here.  
" Crescent Beam!" she cried, sending a shaft of light   
that speared through the two on guard. As the two fell with a   
hole in each, she turned and sent the small surplus she saved   
from the first blast into the barrel that contained the   
fire. As the light flared up around the group, she melted   
back into the bushes and began to circle back towards the   
parking structure.   
They behaved predictably, she thought. Step on the   
anthill and out come the ants. One ran back into the gloom   
towards the darkness and disappeared into it. The others   
took up a defensive perimeter around that area, but all within   
a few feet of the structure.  
Foolish, she thought, bunching up like that. They hadn't   
spotted her new position yet. She concentrated and gathered in   
energy. When she was to the bursting point from the strain of   
holding it, she cried her mantra again and released the attack,   
not at any of the guards, but at the patch of blackness in the   
gloom behind them.  
The results were satisfactory. The blackness shone white   
for a moment, then wavered and exploded out in a ball of white   
light. The building collapsed in on itself as nearby windows   
broke in the church and dust billowed up in massive clouds around   
her that the breeze started to clear away.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Azarite finished the gate spell and appeared at his   
destination near the new buildings. The scene there was   
appalling. The parking structure had collapsed and several   
tell tale piles of dust were dissolving away. She must have   
done this, he thought. That must have been why he couldn't   
use the gate to travel back to the Dark Kingdom.   
He had been forced to create his own gate and it had   
taken much out of him to do so. He'd need to recharge soon   
if he was to stand a chance against his foe. She was a clever   
one, all right. Most of the fading energy signatures from his   
troopers were still inside the rubble.  
The rookies had made a terrible mistake for night duty.   
They had clustered around the fire, he thought. They were   
used to the near perpetual gloom of the Dark Kingdom and   
were as attracted to a fire as a moth to a candle. She must   
have taken advantage of this easy target after disposing of   
the other two who were on guard where they were supposed to be.  
Enough, he thought. He was stranded here unless he   
could steal the power from the sleeping king. The gate to   
the Dark Kingdom was destroyed and there was no way he could   
open it up. He had to succeed here or there was no going home.   
He set off at a run to the old abbey and the path to the tor.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
Artemis felt something. A split second 'feel' of something   
tearing. A gate, he believed. Queen Serenity had instructed him   
on some of the things magic could do and the gates she created   
felt something like this. Hers, however, did not have the same   
intrusive quality to them.  
" Over there," he indicated to Sailor V, pointing a paw   
into the cloud of dust that was settling. They saw a dim outline   
of a person in dark clothing running along the path towards the   
old church buildings.  
  
****************************************************************  
  
Azarite paused on the path and quickly wove a strand of   
power between two shrubs at just above ankle height. A low   
powered fireburst was all he had the power for and it was tied   
into the strand. That should give me a few moments more. It won't   
hurt her, but she'll have to be on guard for more traps.  
In a few minutes, he reached the old abbey. It was mainly   
closed to the public for restoration and preservation right now,   
but fortune seemed to smile on him. There were a few people there,   
probably tourists from their garb. They'd have had to sneak out   
here to be here this late. The gates were closed for the evening   
at the entrance to the abbey grounds.   
He reached into his tunic and pulled out his energy draining   
crystal. His was not a cheap knock-off like those issued to his   
troops. It was far more durable and capable. Theirs would knock   
someone out from the draining of power. His could kill from the   
power it could draw. He intoned the command words as he ran up   
to them and took their lives. The energy was channeled through   
the crystal and into him as he dashed past, not even looking at   
the corpses. Back at full power, he said to himself. He didn't   
like doing this to non-combatants, but his life was at stake   
here and far more important than theirs.  
  
****************************************************************  
  
The flames washed around her as she cried out in surprise   
when something tangled her feet and she went down in a heap on   
the path. Nothing seemed to be hurt, she thought. It certainly   
was a surprise, though.  
" Minako! Are you all right?" the cat cried as he brought   
up the rear. He was not as suited for long distance running and   
was struggling to keep up and was breathing heavily from the effort.  
" Yes, Artemis," she replied with a sigh as she stood up. " It   
wasn't a strong attack. I think it was just a warning and something   
to slow me down. I'll have to keep my pace down to look for any   
others. He's a smart one, he is."  
" Don't rush off on me like that, Minako. I can sometimes be   
of use, you know." he said, slightly testy at being left behind   
by her pace. " I'm not just an advisor. I might be able to sense   
any more traps up ahead"  
" I didn't know you could sense magic."   
" I can't, except for some really strong spells. He does   
have to stop to set these, and I can smell him. He's sweating   
and slightly afraid. I should be able to notice when he does."   
She scooped the cat up and set out at a walk while looking   
around her for more traps. He was doing the same. After several   
minutes, they came to the old abbey buildings.   
" Oh, no," she cried softly. " We're too late for them." Four   
bodies lay lifeless on the gravel path. They were quite young,   
she thought. A family that had just started out. The parents   
were only in their mid twenties, and the two children hadn't   
even hit six at the most. The youngest was dressed in a cowboy   
outfit, complete with hat and toy pistols.   
Tears began to roll down her face. " That...bastard!" she   
growled. " He's dead, Artemis. I'm going to kill him. They must   
have snuck in here to see the old buildings that had been closed.   
This is too high a price for them to pay." She wiped the tears   
from her eyes and ran towards the tor. That was where he would   
be. That is where he would die.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Azarite made it to the top of the low hill. The top was   
relatively flat from years of pilgrims walking on it. They   
probably even took the larger rocks away until the others built   
the church below and started to convert the local population. The   
hill was the only noticeable landmark near the old battle a long   
time ago. When the king fell, he was taken here for burial.  
This is it, he thought. I betray my own here. His efforts   
enabled me to have the life I had when I was young. If not for   
the king, he would have probably died after being pressed into   
service to fight the roving tribes of savages the king had put   
down.   
It wasn't a contest, he decided after a few minutes. His   
life was too important to him to care for a dream dead for over   
a thousand years. His vengeance was more important, as was his   
survival. He started a small fire with a bundle of branches he   
had left at the foot of the hill a few days ago. He raised his   
arms and prepared to begin the chant. It died on his lips as he   
saw who stood on the other side of the flames. A nightmare,   
dressed in blue, white and red with a white cat at her side.  
" You must be Azarite," she said as the breeze caused   
her long blonde hair to billow out to one side.   
" I'm Sailor V. I'm here to stop you."  
  
***************************************************************  
  
She looked at the man opposite her. He was not especially   
imposing. The only thing that set him off from the others was   
a half-cloak about his shoulders and the air of command about   
the man. That, and the look of intelligence in his eyes. He   
was of a different breed than the others. This one's most   
dangerous weapon was between his ears.  
Startle him, she thought. Put him on the defensive.   
She reached up and removed the red mask and let the wind   
carry it away. " You're dressed in the uniform of the Dark   
Kingdom. After what you did to the Silver Millennium, it's   
only fair I show you who I really am. " She reached into her   
space and removed the pen. She pulled in the energy around her   
and said the words as her sigil burst into light on her   
forehead with the symbol of Venus.  
" Venus Power, Make-up." she said. No shouting, just   
the utterly calm words of her new found confidence. She had   
truly made peace with herself. Light flared around her as her   
opponent stood in shock.   
" I am Sailor Venus." she said. " In the name of Venus,   
for your actions in the past, and for killing that poor family   
today, I will kill you." She took advantage of his confusion   
to focus her mind and gathered her energy for her opening move.  
He brought his hands up and a darkness formed about   
them. She darted to the side and just avoided a blast of chill,   
evil malevolence that tore through the spot where she had   
stood. " Crescent Beam! Crescent Beam!" She cried as she sent   
two blasts of light at him. Neither was as strong as her normal   
attack, but this was designed to test his defenses and keep him   
off balance. A quickly erected mage shield sprang up and just   
blocked the bolts inches from him, to his obvious relief.   
She swept her hand around behind her as she took   
advantage of his lack of movement while casting to close   
in. That's one thing she had over him, she thought. I can   
do things while moving and he apparently can't. The knife   
slashed through his tunic, creating a thin line of blood as   
she jumped out of the reach of any counterstroke.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Magnificent, he thought. Her tactics matched her beauty.   
First, she'd thrown him off by revealing herself as one of his   
nightmares come to life. That had caused him to react with a   
powerful but slow 'soul fire' spell which she had avoided. He   
barely managed to parry her counterattack with a shield. Then,   
she kept switching her tactics to keep him off guard and guessing.   
She closed in and feinted, then stood off and let fly   
with her attack. She only seemed to have one, but it was dangerous   
enough. He had missed getting beheaded by inches a few minutes ago   
as a blast tore through his shields. He then changed his defenses   
to lower powered ones that moved with him and were angled to   
deflect rather than block. That should protect him from the   
worst if another hit.  
He tried to gain the offensive with a variety of low   
powered, quick spells that would distract or disable her   
instead of killing. He couldn't take the time to set up a big   
one that would kill her as she'd be on him before he could   
finish. His only hope was to distract or stun her for the few   
moments he'd need.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
This was a tricky one, she thought. He was moving too much   
for Artemis to sneak in and distract him, and his attacks were   
keeping her from the coup-de-grace. He countered every attack   
with a new one, and some of these were coming perilously close   
to hitting her. She'd barely avoided the cloud of burning   
smoke and a lucky dodge had avoided the glowing lightning that came   
out from it. Her counterattack with a crescent beam had moved   
him back, as they had both discovered she could punch through   
his defenses. He circled around the dissipating smoke as she   
moved in for a melee attack and she saw a band of sickly yellow   
light flow up his body from his feet to his upraised hand-  
Suddenly, she was somewhere else. She was sitting on the   
ground again, in a clearing in the middle of a fair garden. Her   
hair was pulled back in a braid to keep it out of the way. There   
was no blue sky above her, only the massive blue orb of the earth.   
It seemed she had been doing a lot of sitting or falling, as her   
backside was very sore. She looked at the figure who stood and   
faced away from her, with a hand brushing her short golden hair   
back. A familiar voice scolded her gently.  
" You're going to learn it before we leave here." One of   
her 'sisters', she thought. The one with the temper who insisted   
on their constant training as a precaution. They did work with   
her, but liked to gently tease her about -  
The man's hand slashed down and the ball of light smashed   
into the ground. The memory was gone, but that did not concern   
her now. She knew what this was. More importantly, she had learned   
the counter on that day long ago.  
She dove over the ball of light as she gathered her energy   
for an attack. Her body went limp as she got herself over and   
rolled out of the landing on her shoulder and came to her feet   
in the same smooth motion. She sprang, startling Azarite by her   
survival and her jump. Both fell to the ground with her on top of   
her enemy. She jammed her fingers into the soft skin under his jaw   
and screamed, " Crescent Beam!"  
  
****************************************************************  
  
He was shocked. She'd somehow evaded his ground shaker   
spell. It had even fooled Kunzite once during training. He saw   
her dive and roll over it and spring forward while the tell-tale   
crescents appeared around her hand that signaled her attack. He   
dropped all of his other spells and defenses and quickly put   
everything he had into an angled shield over his throat as her   
fingers jabbed into it, and he wished he had learned Kunzite's   
spell of attack reflection. Everything, that is, except a tendril   
of energy that he flung into the heart of the power below him.   
He didn't have the time for the rituals or the careful   
analysis that he would need. His fear drove him as she cried   
out and the light and heat began to tear through his shields.   
Protect your countryman, he implored. One of the outlanders   
seeks to harm me.  
  
******************************************************************  
  
She felt the panic in him as her attack punched through   
his shields and into him. She rolled off of the body and got up.   
He was a corpse now, she thought. It is done.  
" We did it, Artemis. It's safe now."  
The cat's eyes got very large in response. She spun   
around to see a truly horrible sight. Azarite was standing. He   
didn't even have a mark on him. Behind the Dark Kingdom warrior   
stood a figure in tattered chain mail with a dragon on the   
bloodstained tabard. A thin circlet of silver sat on his brow   
and a shining sword was in his hand. His graying hair and manner   
of standing reminded her of the glimpses of the Guard members   
from her dreams of the moon. He had the same aura of familiarity   
with battle.  
She sighed and got herself in position again. Artemis   
jumped to her side, as if ready to square off against this   
new foe. There were now two to fight. Azarite was seemingly   
unhurt and now the newcomer. The older man spoke. The words   
chilled her soul.  
" Who seeks to destroy Britian? I stand by her sons in the   
hour of their need."  
His identity came to her. " King Arthur?" she said in   
disbelief. " I'm here to save it. He's the one who seeks to steal   
your power and enslave the land."  
He strode around the intervening fire and brandished his   
sword. Excalibur, she thought. She was now fighting two legends,   
not just the king. " He is a Briton. He has the blood of my   
country. Blood that you tried to spill. Prepare to meet your doom,   
for I am Arthur Pendragon and I wield Excalibur. You will fall   
before me, for I have only lost to one other and he died a long   
time ago."  
He leaped forward with blinding speed and slashed out with   
the mighty sword. It was all she could do to get out of the way   
as the sword trimmed a lock of her hair that got in the way. She   
could see why he had such a reputation. This was an older man,   
slowed by the years since his youth. He must have been an   
unstoppable force when young.   
Several more attacks followed as she tried to work up the   
courage to fight back. She couldn't. This was too much to   
consider attacking. How could she fight him? Did she even have   
the ability to hurt him, let alone the right to try? She   
continued to dodge and evade while trying to work up the   
nerve to attack.   
Her luck finally ran out. Her sandal caught on a gouge in   
the turf from someone's foot earlier in the fight and she fell. He   
was on her in a moment. His battle hardened reflexes seized upon   
her stumble and he leaped with the blade held high. She was   
going to die-  
"Stop, my lord! " A bellow resounded through the night   
air. She opened her eyes and looked to the side. Percival stood   
there, in shining full armor with his helm in one hand and an   
old man supported with the other. " If that blow lands, Arthur,   
you will have made an error as grave as when you banished Lancelot   
and Guenevere. This girl is the one who protected the realm."  
The king looked at the knight and the old man. " Percival?   
Merlin? What is going on here? She was attacking a Briton. I   
heard his cries for help and appeared to give him aid. It was the   
first time any pleas had reached me. I had though something had   
happened to you."  
The old man painfully drew himself up straight, bowed and   
looked at Arthur. " I am not the Merlin you knew, my lord. There   
have been several of us over the years. I have the stories the   
Merlin of your time passed on. Look closely at this man, Arthur.   
He is the evil here. The lass is innocent. She is the one who   
stood forth to protect your dream. She drank the same draught that   
healed you. Evil could not survive that."   
Arthur moved towards Azarite and looked at him for several   
long moments before speaking. " Gods preserve me. I fear I was about   
to make a terrible mistake." He held forth the sword and a sphere of   
energy surrounded the lieutenant. After this he turned back to the   
pair of men who were slowly walking forward. " Am I truly needed at   
this time? Is the dream still alive?" he asked them.  
" The dream lives, Arthur. We continue our watch and will wake   
you if you are needed. Return to your slumber after this is   
resolved." Percival said, his eyes sad. He waited for a moment   
more and addressed his king again in a different tone of voice.   
This was not a subject to his master, this was an old friend to   
another when speaking about a source of great pain.  
" You did them wrong, Arthur. They died of broken hearts   
shortly after you died on the battlefield. Can you see it in your   
heart to forgive them? Gwen and Lance did not mean to harm you,   
Arthur. They were weak, as are we all. They did not do it with the   
intention of hurting you. The banishment was a harsh punishment.   
Will you forgive them, after all this time?"  
The king seemed to get several years older as pain crossed   
his face. A tear worked it's way down one side of his face. " Yes,   
Percival. I've had little to do except think. Say a prayer for me,   
and let them know they are forgiven. Let them have their peace." the   
king said and turned to the girl and her cat.  
" Thank you. Thank you for keeping me from truly doing   
something foolish. If you had attacked me, I'd have probably gone   
into a battle-rage and would have played into the hands of our   
enemy. What are your names?" He drew himself to his full height   
and drew the sword again.   
" Minako Aino, Sailor Venus."  
" Artemis."  
Arthur saluted the two with his sword. " We thank   
you. You will be remembered, after all this is done. A   
song will be sung in your honor."   
Minako curtsied in response to his salute. It seemed   
more appropriate to use a response from her past to reply to   
the salute that was from his. Artemis respectfully inclined   
his head to the king.  
Arthur indicated the trapped warrior from the Dark   
Kingdom. Azarite was watching the exchange with a wild look   
in his eyes and was still pushing at the globe, trying to   
break free. " I will take this one with me. I could never   
understand treachery and wish to discuss it with him. If you   
see him again, I will have released him because he has reformed   
his ways."   
With a last look at his two old friends, the king sunk back   
down into the hill, followed by the sphere with Azarite. The   
remaining four stood for several seconds, absorbing the events   
that had just occurred.  
" This place is safe now, Sailor Venus," the old Merlin   
said. " I have sealed away the power collected at Stonehenge and   
the king guards this one now. He will not let any get to this   
power after the events of tonight. England is safe, thanks to   
the two of you.   
" I have studied the invaders since they appeared. They   
will target your home next. Go there and protect it as you have   
protected ours. I only wish that there was something we could   
do to repay you, but we are constrained to stay here. We   
consider ourselves in your debt." The old man inclined his   
head respectfully. He couldn't manage anther bow like he gave   
his king due to the pain.  
Minako looked at the two and thought for a few moments.   
" There may be something you can do. Artemis and I are   
seeking the Moon Princess so we can protect her. After we find   
her, if she is in a danger that we cannot protect her from, I   
want you to hide her away and protect her."   
The Merlin thought for a few moments and then nodded. " You   
are a strange one. Most would ask for something for themselves.   
This duty must weigh heavily on your shoulders."  
" I have friends to help me with my duty." She reached down   
and briefly gave the cat a scratch between his ears. " Someone   
gave their life to save us from the destruction of the Moon   
Kingdom. How can I not respond to that? I've only now come to   
realize how important that duty is, and that I may not be around   
to fulfill it. I need to make precautions so that it is done,   
even if I fall in the struggle."  
" You are wise, child." the Merlin responded with a   
smile. " We will protect her if it comes to that. I will also   
try to locate her and inform you if we find any sign of her.   
We must leave now. We cannot tarry long in the realm of man."  
Percival saluted her, took the arm of the old man and   
guided him off into the darkness. She reverted her clothing   
back to the more sensible garb that Minako was wearing. The   
uniform of Venus was nice, but it was lacking in this weather.   
She went to get her pack from her hiding place and to begin the   
long walk to the village. She'd have to see what happened to the   
bus tour when she got there.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
" Kunzite. We are not pleased with your performance in   
this matter. It will be three to six months for the gates to   
Earth to be re-established and stabilized. You are fortunate   
that the attack on the gate chamber did not destroy both gate   
crystals and it only damaged the one to the region called Japan.   
" Because of the incompetence of your troops and the loss   
of the gate to England, We have decided that a new commander will   
lead the first forays into Japan." Beryl paused for the right   
effect. She wanted all of the generals thinking here. She could   
see the barely concealed grin on Nephrite's face. He had   
misinterpreted the stars in this case, she thought.  
" This petty squabble that you three were involved in   
has displeased us," she announced while pointing to Kunzite,   
Zoisite and Nephrite. " Jadeite will be the new commander of   
the first attack. These attacks will be using the youma for   
the most part, Jadeite. The loss of that many officers, even   
if they are junior grade, cannot be allowed to happen again.   
We cannot jeopardize the structure of our armies due to the   
loss of so many officers. Do you understand us?" she said in   
a quiet tone.  
The four were suitably wary at this. Beryl was at her   
worst when she was quiet. The normal routine was the grand   
pronouncements in a loud voice. The quiet voice was the one   
she used when she was going to banish someone to an eternity in   
crystal.  
The Queen gave her generals another long look and dismissed   
them, ending the audiences for the day. She walked into her   
private chambers with a very angry look on her face. The four   
gathered together in a small group that the others in the chamber   
left alone. The matter at hand was important enough for them to put   
aside their differences for the moment.  
" Are you sure, Kunzite?" Nephrite asked.  
Jadeite looked at the white haired general. " Is it true?"  
Kunzite stood still for a few moments and reached into his   
tunic and pulled out a scrying crystal. He waved his hand over it   
and it projected an image into the air above it. The image was a   
composite of what the sole survivor of Azarite's squad   
remembered and what an intelligence operative had obtained   
in Japan before the gate there was damaged.  
A young woman looked out at them. Her long blond hair was   
tied back with a ribbon and a red mask hid her identity. The rest   
of the outfit was not precisely familiar to the four, but it was   
close enough to cause concern. It was too much in the style of an   
old enemy to be a coincidence. The uniform was like one of the   
Sailor Senshi, the defenders of the Moon Kingdom.   
" This is the enemy, gentleman." Kunzite said. " This is the   
reason the Queen is so upset. It appears that one of our ancient   
enemies may have returned." He looked at the other three carefully.  
" We have survived much. We will need our wits about us to   
save ourselves from Beryl here. She is working herself into a rage   
over this. She banished the only survivor of the mission to England,   
even though he followed his orders about reporting if anything   
occurred. She decided he was to be punished because his unit   
failed.  
"Over the next months, she will be a raving madwoman due   
to the sighting of this 'Sailor V'. Even the name is close to   
the ones of her old enemies. You all must remember her actions   
when she first woke after the banishing. She killed or banished   
many who had simply looked like or reminded her of Serenity   
or the Sailor Senshi."   
They let this sink during several long moments while   
each thought at a furious pace. Nephrite spoke up. " I propose   
a truce during this time. I will support the rest of you to   
save us all from her. The stars have shown me many strange   
things that may be occurring. The Queen is not quite sane in   
some of them. Do you all agree?"  
The four nodded. These were to be dangerous times for   
them. Their enemy on Earth was no laughing matter. They knew   
of the training Kunzite had invested in Azarite and that this   
'Sailor V' was not someone to be taken lightly. There was also   
Beryl to deal with here. They had to survive this, if their   
plans from long ago could continue. Atlantis had to be reborn,   
and one other matter remained unresolved. If one of the   
Sailor Senshi survived, there was a chance that Prince Endymion  
lived. They had a score to settle with the one who had forsaken   
his duty and betrayed their home.  
  
**************************************************************   
  
" I'm all right, mom," she said to her mother. " The   
bus had some mechanical problems up at the church and the   
tour company is putting us up for the night at a bed and   
breakfast here. They'll have another bus here in the morning.   
I should be back by mid-morning. I'll be all right."  
Her mother continued to make a fuss about the situation   
while she looked at the cat and shrugged her shoulders. When   
her mother paused for a breath, she cut in and interrupted   
her. " Mom? Someone here has to use the phone. There's only   
one. I'll see you in the morning. I love you both. Bye!"   
She put the phone back down on the cradle in her room   
and stretched out on the bed. The cat came over and curled up   
on the pillow next to her.   
" They found a nice house, Mom said. We should be   
moving our things in next week. Dad says the job should only   
be another 3 months. We'll be back home sooner than I thought."  
The cat let out a yawn that threatened to dislocate his   
jaw. " Excuse me. I'm more tired than I thought. That's good,   
Minako. With the business here finished, I think that the next   
attacks will be back at home. Remember the maps? They had the   
same symbols on them for strong magic that the one of England   
had."  
" Yes, but why weren't there any circles there like the   
England map?" She responded. The thought of these monsters   
loose in her home was unsettling. " What if the princess   
appears? Unless I run away from my parents, we won't be back   
there for 3 months. What should we do?"  
" I don't know yet, Minako. I do think it would be a   
good idea for Sailor V to keep on working here. If the Dark   
Kingdom is still operating here, it may cause them to concentrate   
on this area. Hopefully, they'll see you as a threat and   
concentrate their efforts here and that might take some   
pressure off the Moon Princess or the other Sailor Senshi if   
they show up."  
" Thanks. Should I paint a big, fat target on my back   
while I'm at it?" she said dryly. " I just love being the center   
of their attentions. Artemis, did I offend you in some way you   
never told me about?"  
" Yes. I hate deep fried fish and that's what you brought   
me for what could have been my last meal."  
They both laughed and settled down for the night. Their   
next three months would be interesting times, as the ancient   
curse went.   
  
*************************************************************  
  
The boy slipped around the side of the hill and   
continued to look around the area. After another hour   
of searching, he found it. He picked up the red mask   
and carefully wrapped a soft cloth around it. He'd take   
the time to store it properly when he got home.   
He knew, when their labors were over, that the   
knights would gather around their table again and   
remember the stories of those who had helped the cause.   
She did as much as any of them, he thought. Actually, she did   
a lot more, he decided after remembering the stories. Her   
tale deserved to be told. He'd keep the mask and put it   
with the few mementos his master showed him. He walked to   
the top of the hill in one world and then down it in another   
world and entered the house that was built in front of the   
mouth of a cave.  
  
  
The End.  
  
************************************************************  
  
All characters are copyrights of the respective holders.  
Please send comments, etc. to the above e-mail address.  
  
Special thanks to the following...  
  
Naoko Takeuchi, of course.  
  
Luna and Artemis for kind words and support.  
check out their page at  
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9897/  
  
Chris Davies for inspiring me to continue.  
check out his page at  
http://www/ualberta.ca/~cdavies/hmpage.html  
  
Jackie Chiang for being the sage I turned to for knowledge.  
check out her page at   
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/3741/  
  
Chi Ming Cheung for keeping me laughing.  
  
Rav Dhiraj for reading and thoughtful comments.  
  
Jupiter Knight for reading and thoughtful comments.  
  
Also, special mention must be made of the following.  
  
Ake Rosenius has drawn some wonderful fan art   
based on this story. Please, go check it out at  
  
http://www.ies.luth.se/~akeros92/fanart_e.html  



	2. Default Chapter Title

Awakening, part 2 {1/1}  
  
  
A Sailor Moon story by Tim Nolan  
e-mail: nomad@cyberverse.com  
  
Please see comments following the story.  
  
Awakening  
  
part 2  
  
  
She slipped the shift lever forward into the power setting   
and felt the car accelerate out of it's cruise velocity. The   
speedometer slid up to 240 as she lined up on the straightaway   
and flew down the track. She had to hand it to the Americans,   
she thought. They were as crazy about speed as she was.  
These Indy cars were very similar to the Formula 1 cars   
she was used to but there was a big difference. The Americans   
raced these on oval tracks. These cars were built for speed   
that the others could not handle. It would handle like a dog   
on a twisting Formula 1 course, but it reigned supreme here   
in it's element and she reveled in the feel.   
She was scheduled to do a charity race as the team's   
representative in a few weeks before a big race in America. One   
of the sponsors of her team had cars competing in the race   
and decided to garner some extra publicity by entering her in   
the charity race against some celebrities and retired drivers. She   
didn't really want to, but she knew better than to rock the boat   
on this. Sixteen year old girls weren't allowed to compete in   
this environment and she was lucky to be here.   
The car flashed by the stands near the finish line. Only   
eyes that were used to it could really catch a message chalked   
on a board at this velocity, but she saw what she had been   
dreading. They wanted their car back. The regular driver must   
want to get some time in, she thought. This one was a far cry   
above the powered down version she would race in the celebrity   
event and she would hate to go back to the other car.  
She shifted her weight to compensate for the turn as she   
kept her velocity up and just missed the outer wall at the end   
of the turn. The telemetry in the car told her that she was   
doing better than the regular driver had been doing. The English   
speed measurements never bothered her, even though she grew up   
with the metric system.  
As she passed the finish line again and ended with a run   
that would probably put her on the pole if she was competing,   
she glanced up at the stands. A few diehard fans and some bored   
media people were there. That, and one other. She just caught   
the long, dark green hair on a woman standing apart from the   
others. A green so dark, it was almost black. A flash of red   
also caught her eye but she was past the stands too quickly to   
see more. After pulling into the pit on her next lap, she looked   
up at the stands after exiting the car. There was no one in the   
stands who matched what she had seen.   
She frowned and went back into the recesses of the pit and   
to the camera that was taping the pit crew performance. The   
camera had been running all along and would have the stands in   
the background. She stopped it and rewound the tape to her last   
lap. She looked at the small viewing screen. Nothing. The woman   
wasn't on the tape. She had seen her. The girl was positive about   
that.  
  
***************************************************************   
  
The sunlight fell through the windows that ran from the   
floor to the ceiling of the room she was in and created an   
array of shadows over her as it emerged from behind a cloud. Her   
mind had again wandered to something else as she had worked. She   
stretched briefly and got up from her sketch to walk around the   
room and admire the garden outside. This room was a special one   
to her. She called it the conservatory.   
The windows ran the full length of three sides of the   
room and, combined with the two story ceiling, gave this room   
a very open feel and wonderful acoustics. The bushes and trees   
on the sides screened it off from the main part of the house   
and gave her privacy, but did not block the beautiful view out   
the windows and over the city below.  
Her father's devotions were to his family first, but his   
love of architecture was a close second. It showed in the layout   
of the house on a small hill overlooking a portion of Tokyo. At   
night, there was a sea of lights below the house that both parts   
of the "L" shaped house could enjoy. During the day, the gardens   
delighted the eye and soul with the natural beauty and clever   
arrangements. It was no wonder he had become a successful   
architect and the owner of a respected designing firm in so   
little time.   
She sat down on a bench at her father's third love. She   
tapped the keys of the grand piano and tried to work out the   
melody of the Chopin piece that had just finished playing. After   
a few moments, she gave up and turned the player back on and went   
to get her violin. She just didn't have her father's skill with   
the ivories.  
The hallway was lined with some of the works of both her   
and her mother. Both her parents were artistically gifted, but   
her mother's skill at painting was the only one she had directly   
inherited. In her room, she picked up her violin and returned   
to the conservatory. She spent about an hour working on adapting   
the piece to the violin and got the basics down to her   
satisfaction. The polish could wait now that she had the   
foundation.   
After getting a cup of tea, she returned to her original   
seat and looked at the sketch. She had been waiting for a date   
at a cafe a week ago and her friend had called to cancel. She   
had to go away due to work but would now be able to make the   
recital in a week that she was going to miss before the change   
in plans. She returned to her seat and had looked around the   
small cafe, noticing the challenges of drawing the scene due   
to the mirrors on the back wall. She didn't really want to leave   
yet and decided to wait out the brief rainstorm that had come   
up. Her sketch pad was in her bag and she took it out and began   
to make a study for a later work.   
The view from inside the cafe looking at the mirrored wall   
in the back with the reflection of the street outside would be   
her study. She quickly drew in the basic shapes and forms on   
her first page, and decided to do a close up of one section in   
her next. A young couple stood outside and she put that into   
the drawing as she watched them in a detached way while her   
hands worked on the page. The girl was tall for her age and   
wore an old school uniform that laced up the front. The young   
man she spoke with was facing away from the cafe and was hidden   
from her view, but her heart went out to the girl. The look of   
anguish on her face was clearly visible even from this   
distance. It must have been a lover's quarrel, as the young   
man left after a few moments and the girl stood there, not   
even noticing the rain.  
She was just about to get up and go to the girl and   
comfort her when another young man came up to the girl and put   
an umbrella up over the two of them. After a few moments, they   
had left together. She had decided to do a painting based on   
this sad scene, and her sketches earlier in the day were a   
quick experiment with color and shading to allow her to feel   
out her goal for the painting.  
The colors and lines did a good job of expressing the   
emotions she had wanted to convey. The cafe was in the   
foreground. The lovers were in the background in the mirrors,   
their sorrow and pain a contrast to the happier scene in the   
foreground. She did feel a bit guilty about using their pain   
in her piece, but she had learned long since that artists   
routinely used the emotions of others to come up with the   
ideas for their work.  
She had continued to study it and was composing the   
painting in her mind when she noticed an inconsistency. She   
looked at her original studies and her sketch again to make   
certain of what she saw. There was a woman in the sketch who   
was not in the studies. Worse, she had drawn her showing up   
in the mirror, but not in the crowd where she obviously would   
have to be in order to have such a reflection.   
The woman was distinctive enough that she should have   
remembered her from that cafe. Her long green hair was almost   
black and she held a tall staff. She would have remembered   
seeing someone like that. Somehow, the woman looked... familiar.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
The display on the wall in front of her read " 2.01 ." This   
was the fastest she had ever gone, but she had thought that twice   
the speed of sound would somehow be more interesting. The small   
windows of the jet did not allow her to see much outside to   
compare their speed with.   
The travel agent for the team had managed to get the   
bookings changed and get her on the Concorde for the run   
from New York to London. From there, she would transfer to   
a normal airliner for the long run to Tokyo. If the planes   
were not delayed, she'd just make it to Tokyo in time for   
Michiru's recital at their high school.  
Things were going well for her, she thought as she   
settled down into the seat to rest. She was able to chase   
her dream and had found a close friend. The time she had   
spent in America these last weeks had made her realize how   
much she had missed the latter while pursuing the former.  
It hadn't always been like this for her. When she was   
young, she didn't fit in real well. Her father had been in   
the military for a short time when he was young, and this   
had enabled him to get an apartment in one of the large   
housing complexes for his family. He was a baker, and had   
turned a lot of hard work into a small chain of four bakeries   
with a small catering business on the side. He hadn't been   
around much when she was growing up, but that still didn't   
stop her from turning into what one of the American drivers   
called her. She was a tomboy.  
She may have been more accepted in America, but it   
was hard for the boys in the complex to accept her. That   
is, until she showed them that she was as good as any of   
them at the sports they played and helped them to beat the   
team of boys from one of the other buildings in the complex   
in a game of baseball. The fact that she was going to pitch   
was a great source of amusement for the other team. The   
laughter and derision stopped when she started striking   
them out. After that, she was like one of the boys. The only   
way to tell her apart from them was her sandy blond colored   
hair that was pulled back in a braid to keep it out if the way,   
for she was as tall as most of them.  
Her parents had been slightly worried after a few years   
of this. They had thought she should be playing with the other   
young girls instead. They couldn't understand how much she   
despised their dolls and the talk of who they wanted to marry   
when they grew up. There had to be something more to life for   
her.   
The child psychologist they sent her to when she was eight   
had finally been able to make her parents understand that there   
was nothing wrong with her. She just had different feelings and   
goals than other girls her age. Her grades at school weren't   
suffering, so her parents had relented. They never had really   
understood her, but at least they tried to support her. If   
nothing else, she would always love them for that.  
It was when she was ten that she realized what she wanted   
to do. She had been on a ride on the bullet train and the sight   
of the landscape flashing by the window had enthralled her. After   
that, there was no turning back. She wanted to go fast, and the   
best thing she could think of doing was racing. She had seen the   
stories from America how a woman driver had started racing on   
their circuit. That was her inspiration. If someone else could   
do it, so could she.  
The next four years were spent learning about cars and   
racing. She'd watch all the races on television and could   
name statistics on many of the drivers. She even tried to   
get into the driving academies that taught high speed driving,   
but they turned her down due to her age and that she was a girl.   
The rejection didn't stop her. She had started hanging   
around a racing track that was only a short train ride away   
when she was thirteen and pestering the drivers and   
mechanics. She'd help them when she could by fetching tools   
or running errands. Her current team had practically adopted   
her as a mascot after a few months.  
It finally paid off when an older mechanic named   
Yamagata took pity on her and showed her how to drive. They   
had an old car that had two seats in it for training purposes.   
The ex-driver had taken her out for a few rides to show her   
what it was like and then shown her the ropes. She took to it   
like a fish to water, surprising all the team members with her   
skill.   
After that, she'd been the guinea pig for the mechanics.   
She would do a lot of driving for tests that the regular drivers   
found boring. Most of her weekends were spent at the track when   
the team wasn't away for a race. The drivers took a liking to   
her and one, the American, had shown her how to drive the   
motorcycles that the main sponsor, Honda, had a team racing   
in events at the track. Few days passed where she was not   
speeding around the track, her long hair flying out behind   
her in it's customary braid.  
Her big break came just after she turned fifteen. There   
was a big race planned at the track near her house. The team   
had several racers entered into the main event later in the   
day. The morning was when there was a celebrity event scheduled.   
The team had an idol singer who played the piano set to race   
for them in the first event. His management company and the   
insurance company who had a several hundred million yen policy   
on his hands found out about it and pulled him from the event   
the morning of the race. There was only about 5 minutes left   
before the point where the drivers would have to be in the   
cars. The sponsor was getting frantic, as they had contractual   
obligations to have a driver on the course for this.  
" Yamagata!" she called out. The older mechanic turned to   
her, glad for a distraction from the representative from the   
sponsor. Yamagata was the head of the pit crew and part owner   
of the team. He was also the one who was feeling the heat right   
now.  
She caught his eyes and pointed at herself, her eyes   
imploring him for the chance. He frowned for a moment, then   
grinned and nodded. She ran over while pulling on her driving   
clothes with all the sponsor's logos.  
" Here's your driver," he said to the annoyance in front   
of him. The representative gasped and shook his head back and   
forth.   
" No way. She's a girl. She's not even one of your   
team. What about the other drivers? Why can't they do it?"  
" They all have to race later on today. They can't do   
this and the other race," the older man replied. " This one's   
as good as any of the other rookies we have. I say she can do   
it."  
" Even if she is as good as the others, we can't have a   
girl out there. Women haven't raced here before in Japan. This   
isn't the States. They won't go for it."  
This made her mad. This was her chance and she wasn't   
going to let this little VP of public relations who was just   
out of school ruin it for her. She lifted up her braid in one   
hand and a knife from a tool tray in the other.  
" Who's a girl?" she growled at him while cutting through   
her braid in one savage stroke. " I'm Haruka Ten'ou, the newest   
member of the team. There's no way they can tell  
I'm not a man in this suit and my now short hair isn't a   
giveaway. I'm tall enough to pass as a guy and my voice is   
deep enough. If we don't say anything, they'll simply think   
I'm a rookie who the team just hired. I'm racing here. Now,   
get out of my way."   
She tossed the braid to the now laughing Yamagata as   
she stepped around the shocked sponsor representative who   
threw his arms up in surrender and walked away.  
" Hold that for me. I've got a race to win."  
  
******************************************************  
  
Michiru finished her practicing at her house. The   
setting sun could just be seen through west facing windows   
of the conservatory. She'd have to leave in a few minutes.   
There had still been no word from Haruka. A call to the   
airport had told her that the flight had been delayed in   
taking off in London and was running late. The new arrival   
time was just as the recital would be starting.   
She smiled at the thought that came to her mind. Haruka   
would only find that a challenge. She'd use it as an   
opportunity to test her skills in a mad race to make it in   
time. She had made some discreet inquiries of some friends   
of her parents and found that a certain motorcycle officer   
had catching Haruka as his top priority. The officer in question   
apparently had a mechanically inclined girlfriend who was souping   
up his motorcycle so he could catch the white and gold menace   
that had plagued him for the last year.   
It was only fitting that her parents would be there as   
well. They had always encouraged her as a child and been more   
than willing to help her out. Her father had a pool put in when   
she showed a serious interest in swimming. She was still the   
record holder at her high school in several events due to her   
diligent practice. He had also been the one to get her into   
music, for she had loved to listen to him on the piano when   
she was young.   
Her mother was the biggest influence on her, however. Her   
mother had taken the time to show her the basics in painting   
and drawing as she was growing up, and had encouraged her to do   
whatever she wanted. At first, she had copied much of her   
mother's style, but had began to develop her own in the last   
several years. A family friend who owned an art gallery had   
seen some of her works at her home and was so impressed by   
them that she talked her into a showing at the gallery along   
with a display of her mother's that had been planned. The   
majority of them had sold for some handsome prices and she   
had ended up earning a good amount of money just in time for   
her fifteenth birthday.  
While things were good at home, this was not true at   
her school. For the most part, most of the girls had been   
jealous of her skill and success, or the money she had, or   
her looks. It was never flaunted, but where most of the girls   
might have had a ring or necklace with a blue topaz, she had   
an aquamarine. Her clothes were usually tailored for her. While   
she wasn't studying all the time, she found her classes to be   
easy and was able to maintain a very high average with little   
effort.  
All these had conspired to make her less than popular   
with most of the other girls at school. It was only at the start   
of school this year that it seemed to change. She had a gym class   
with a new student. That first day was one she would never forget.  
There was a commotion going on at the entrance to the locker   
room. A small crowd of girls had gathered and were heatedly arguing   
among themselves. As she walked up, she could see the reason. A boy   
had just walked out of the girls locker room and was walking   
towards the track for the gym class. The boy had also been   
wearing the shirt and shorts that the girls wore.  
Michiru had smiled at the confusion around her. The girls   
hadn't spent the time she had in studying the human body. That   
may have looked like a boy initially, but that 'boy' was a   
girl. She went in and quickly changed and ran to the track. The   
newcomer was jogging around the track while getting ready for   
the class. She stretched briefly and ran over and caught up to   
her.   
" Did you enjoy that?" she teased the other with a   
smile. " They're having a fit back there because they think   
you're a boy."   
" I never said I was." The voice startled Michiru. No   
wonder they were so upset. Her voice was deep enough to pass   
as a man. The other girl continued as they jogged around a   
turn. " How could you tell so easily if they were fooled by it?"  
Michiru smiled again. " I'm an artist. I've studied   
people. At first, you look like a boy with your height, short   
hair and deeper voice. When you're wearing that, I can tell   
that you are a girl due to the shape of your body. If you   
had been wearing normal clothes, I don't think I could know   
the difference."  
The other was quiet for a few moments until a whistle   
sounded. " That's the coach starting the class. I'll race you   
back," she said to Michiru with look of challenge in her eyes.   
Michiru stared back and said, " You're on. GO!"  
They dashed down the track towards the rest of the   
class. The distance would be about a hundred meter race   
and Michiru felt herself to be in good form today. The   
other girls in the class weren't much of a challenge to her,   
especially after a summer off from their regular exercise at   
school. She should be able to take the victory.  
The short haired girl wasn't following the script,   
however. Her longer legs pushed her out to a small lead by   
the halfway point and she finished about two steps ahead of   
Michiru at the end. As they slowed to a walk and headed   
towards the coach, the girl held out her hand.   
" Haruka Ten'ou. You're pretty good. I haven't had   
a challenge like that for a while."   
" Michiru Kaioh. You're pretty good yourself. I haven't   
been beaten for a long time. You're going to keep me working   
harder to catch you." She took the offered handshake as they   
joined the rest of the class. They were put through the paces   
by their coach, who seemed very happy about something.  
If I can get those two on the track team, he thought to   
himself, I'll be able to beat that duo from Furinkan High.   
Those two girls may have been fighting like cats and dogs   
last year, but the new redhead and the girl with the short   
black hair on the Furinkan team had killed everyone last year   
in track, including his team. He'd have his revenge on the   
school's nearby rival.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
She was wrong about her prediction, but it was only   
by a fraction of a second. A cagey veteran driver who had   
more years of experience driving than she had alive had   
managed to hold her off from the victory, and she took a   
close second. Their duel over the last ten laps was far   
more exciting than the professional race later in the day   
and earned her a spot on the team as a real rookie driver.   
Yamagata had been thrilled at her success, and Takashi,   
the representative from the sponsor, had apologized to her for   
his thinking she couldn't do the job because she was a girl. The   
three of them had gotten together later that day and worked out   
their strategy in regards to her. The racing groups didn't   
require the racers to disclose what sex they were, as they   
assumed that no women would think of competing. The three   
would simply continue the charade Haruka had come up with.   
If they kept her in the normal outfits the drivers wore   
while racing, nobody would be the wiser. The paperwork and   
insurance matters were quickly rushed through and the team   
had a new member.  
Her parents were less than thrilled at what had   
happened, but held true to their earlier decision to   
support her. As long as she finished school, she could   
continue racing. The trophy from that day still sat in a   
case in her parent's house, the braid of her hair neatly   
coiled within the cup. That had been her mother's greatest   
concern, she remembered with a smile. The fact that she was   
risking life and limb didn't seem to bother her mother as   
much as her new hairstyle.  
She took the next several events by storm. Two finishes   
in first and several finishes in the top five places had put   
her into the lead for the top rookie of the season. She had   
started too late to catch the leaders among the other drivers   
for this season, but was confident she'd take them next year.   
The sponsor had even allowed her to do some motorcycle racing   
for the additional publicity value of having a successful driver   
in two different types of events.  
Like most of the drivers, with the exception of the   
stars on the circuit, she was not paid a great amount by the   
team. The real money was in the incentive clauses for good   
finishes. Her endorsement work, combined with her success on   
the track, earned her a considerable amount of money by the   
end of the season. She chose these, with Takashi helping her,   
on the basis of keeping her secret. The shots would be of her   
in her driving clothes and this minimized the chance of   
discovery. She was generous with her shares of the prize   
money that went to the pit crew. This, combined with the   
success of the team, kept them from talking about her.  
When school ended last year, she had a long talk with   
her parents about her future. She purchased a house in an   
area of the country that they liked and convinced them to   
move there to watch it for her. She bought half of her father's   
business and became his partner. This enabled her to bring in   
a few more people and expand the catering angle so her father   
only had to come into the town a few times a week to check on   
the day to day operations.  
A few weeks of searching had turned up an apartment near   
the Juban area of Tokyo that she liked and moved into. It fit   
the important criteria of having a garage big enough for the   
motorcycle and the sportscar she drove while in town. The   
mechanics on the team kept the two vehicles in top condition. The   
car was the top of the line model from the sponsor and painted   
yellow. The motorcycle looked like the commercial version, but   
boasted a racing engine under the white and gold exterior.   
The hardest part was going to a new school. She transferred   
into Mugen Gakuen from her old school and prepared for the usual   
routine of putting up with a new bunch of boring teachers. She   
found she was wrong about that. This place had some good teachers   
and promised to be an interesting academic challenge for her.  
The most pleasant surprise was Michiru. She hadn't expected   
to like any of the girls at the school. She had so little in   
common with them it was hard to relate to them. In Michiru, she   
found what had eluded her for so long. A person she could call   
a friend.  
They had enough in common to draw them together. Their   
contests on the track were usually won by Haruka, but not without   
her top efforts. Michiru was the winner in the water, but she was   
gaining ground quickly with Michiru showing her how to   
improve. This camaraderie led them to get closer and learn   
more about the other.  
She took Michiru driving on the track and showed her   
the thrill of pushing the limits of man and machine. The   
beauty of the art and music that she saw because of her   
friend tugged at her soul. She even had Michiru start showing   
her how to paint as she realized how much she had ignored in   
her youth.  
This close relationship was not missed by the other   
students. It only took a few months for the ugly rumors to   
start. The fact that Haruka refused to wear the girls uniform   
due to years of wearing boys clothing didn't help the   
matter. They were quickly shunned by many of the other   
students.   
The fact was that they didn't mind. They had each other.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
Haruka smiled at the memories as she wove her way through   
the traffic near the airport. She'd picked her motorcycle up   
at a parking facility near the airport and was racing home. It   
was going to be a close call, but she needed to get home to   
change and pick up her car for the evening.   
She didn't know when it happened, but she knew when she   
became aware of it. A boy at the school, obsessed with Michiru,   
had tried to convince her that what she was doing was wrong   
and that she just needed a real man to help her change her   
ways. Naturally, he was volunteering for the part.  
She had overheard the conversation as she walked up   
behind him after she heard him raising his voice to Michiru   
and getting cruder in his choice of words to describe what   
existed between the two girls. The look on Michiru's face   
told her that this was bothering her.   
" ' That little twerp doesn't have the right to mess   
with someone I love...' " had been the words that ran through   
her mind. She was so startled by it she didn't even see the   
boy realize she was there and turn white as a sheet and move   
away. She stood there for several seconds before realizing   
that Michiru had been talking to her.  
Later that evening, at Michiru's, she refrained from   
discussing it with the other girl. It was still too new for   
her to be able to deal with it, let alone talk about it. She   
had merely enjoyed the evening they had together while   
listening to Michiru improvising on the violin.  
Her thoughts abruptly returned to the present. Traffic   
was slowing up ahead and she quickly cut to the offramp and   
onto the surface streets. There was a street that wasn't too   
crowded this time of the night that led to her house. She'd   
be fine as long as that cop wasn't there, lurking in ambush.   
She'd really have to remember to get that international   
driving license the next time she was in America. This guy   
was getting to be a real hassle.  
A few quick turns led her through a section of   
residential streets and onto her shortcut. She accelerated   
and sped down the street, keeping an eye out for the police   
officer. A pedestrian stepped out into a break in the traffic   
ahead of her and she put the motorcycle into a sharp swerve   
around him and then hit the brakes to avoid a car that ran   
through a red light at the intersection ahead of her. She fought   
the bike into a controlled skid that brought her to a stop just   
before the light.   
Right next to her was the cop. He'd been chasing the car   
that ran the light and managed to stop in time to avoid a   
child who had darted across the street as soon as the light   
changed. Haruka sighed. Fate was conspiring against her   
tonight. First, the plane was delayed in London and now this.   
She winked at him and bent down low over the handlebars   
as she goosed the engine and shot down the street. He was on   
her tail, and the big brute of motorcycle he had would have   
the advantage on the streets with all the traffic. She was   
on a machine designed for speed. Handling on a city street   
was not it's strong point. The onramp for an expressway   
loomed before her and she just made the swerve onto it.   
There wasn't much traffic in this direction and she   
took advantage of it. She had it over 200 kmh by the time   
she was actually on the expressway and really opened it up.   
The standard cop bikes were about as aerodynamic as a brick   
and there was no way he was catching her today.   
The motorcycle officer pulled over to the side as his   
quarry sped off down the expressway. This thing couldn't   
catch that bike in this situation. The other bike had   
tremendous acceleration that a stock machine could never   
match, even after Miyuki put all that time in blueprinting   
the engine. He'd have to get the chief to authorize a new   
motorcycle; one that could handle the speeds his adversary   
used. He hadn't had a challenge like this before, and was   
determined to bring the other in on his own. I'll get you,   
he said to himself. Just watch. I'll get you.  
  
******************************************************   
  
I'll have to change the paint scheme again, she said   
to herself as she changed into a suit that she had bought   
just for tonight. She had raced down the expressway for a   
few minutes and had doubled back on the surface streets, as   
she wondered why he didn't radio in for back-up. As good as   
she was, she'd have problems with a helicopter tailing her   
and directing the pursuit. It's like he thinks this is   
something personal.   
She dismissed it from her mind as she got in her car   
and took off for the school. There would be just enough   
time, thanks to her high speed run on the expressway. She   
used the cellular phone in the car to call a flower shop   
that was on the way and instructed the girl there in exactly   
what she wanted and how it was to be arranged while driving   
through the traffic at a more sedate pace.  
Her calls a few days ago had paid off. The restaurant   
had left a message confirming her reservation and that they   
had the tickets for the show delivered to them by a courier.   
The violinist was here on a short trip from his native France   
and had only one performance scheduled. Michiru had tried to   
get tickets and failed when the show was announced.   
She pulled some strings with Takashi and turned in a few   
favors that the sponsor had owed her and had gotten the box   
the company had at the theater. Michiru would be thrilled.  
She pulled into the parking lot at the auditorium after   
picking up the flower. There was only one, a single   
yellow rose in a simple arrangement she had learned   
from her friend. Her time away from her in America had   
convinced her to do it. She was going to tell her how she felt.  
  
*********************************************************   
  
" You play very well, Michiru. My name is Setsuna   
Meiou. I'd like to talk with you for a few moments."  
The woman was not supposed to be here, she thought   
to herself. After a moment, she realized who this was. The   
woman in the composition sketch of that cafe. The one who   
wasn't there but she had drawn in anyway. She was taller than   
herself and almost as tall as Haruka. Her hair was the exact   
dark, dark green she had imagined, almost black in the dim light.  
Michiru walked to her chair and sat down facing the other   
woman. She put the rose from Haruka down on the make-up table.   
" I assume this isn't just a social call, Miss Meiou. Has   
the time come?"  
" How do you know about that?" Setsuna asked, surprised   
at the calm manner of the girl in front of her. She should   
have been surprised by this. Michiru just smiled a small,   
tired smile in response to her puzzlement.   
" I've always known that this life was not the one I   
was meant for. When I was young, and just starting to learn   
what my mother did, I told her of some ideas I had for some   
paintings she could do. I couldn't paint or draw back then,   
so my mother indulged me and did three paintings based on   
what I had told her.   
" I still have them in storage in my room. A castle   
right out of a fairy tale, surrounded by beautiful gardens   
and no moon in the sky, just the gigantic blue orb of the   
Earth. I cried for a week after I first saw them. That was   
my home, wasn't it?"  
Setsuna quickly wiped back a tear at the pain in   
the girl's voice. The poor girl hurt from the memories she   
had but could not fully understand.  
" Long ago, there was a glorious kingdom on the moon.   
You were one of it's defenders, Michiru. It was destroyed,   
but not before your spirit was sent forward with the other   
Sailor Senshi. You're needed here, Michiru. Our duty calls."  
Two lines of tears began to make their way down Michiru's   
face. All of the pressure on her seemed to lift from her   
shoulders. She looked up at Setsuna, still with the sad   
smile.   
" Will I remember any of this? Was this all just a   
lie? I just found happiness here with Haruka. I wouldn't   
want to forget it. I know I have to help you, but I couldn't   
bear the thought of losing what we've had."   
" Yes," Setsuna replied. " You'll remember everything-"  
" You were great tonight, love... " Haruka's voice   
dwindled off as she came through the door and saw Michiru's   
tears. All three were quiet for a moment. The door swung shut   
on it's hinges. Haruka stepped towards the stranger with an   
angry look on her face.  
" If you hurt her, I'm going to-"   
" Haruka, it's all right. She didn't do anything." Michiru   
said in an attempt to calm her friend down. " Her name is Setsuna   
Meiou. Setsuna, this is my friend, Haruka Ten'ou. Haruka is one   
of the others you are looking for."  
Both Haruka and Setsuna turned to look at Michiru at that,   
giving up their scrutiny of each other. Almost as one, they said   
the same thing.  
" What?"   
Michiru laughed at the looks of surprise on their faces.   
" Haruka, she needs our help. In some ways, we're kind of   
related to each other. Please listen to her, Haruka. She's   
telling the truth, no matter how strange a thing she says.   
" Setsuna, would you please tell her about us. All   
three of us," she quickly added at the flash of pain in   
Haruka's eyes.  
" There was a kingdom on the moon," Setsuna began. " It   
was a time of peace and prosperity for the inhabitants."  
" The moon?" Haruka said softly. Michiru put her in hand   
on Haruka's to quiet her and asked Setsuna to continue.   
" There were those on Earth who coveted the power of the   
Moon Kingdom. They banded together and attacked by surprise. The   
Moon Kingdom was destroyed, but not before it's Queen sacrificed   
herself to save the children there. They were sent to a time   
where they could again know peace.   
" The two of you were part of the protectors of the Moon   
Kingdom. You've been reincarnated here because there is need of   
you. The old enemies of the Moon Kingdom are beginning to return   
and your duty is to protect the Moon Princess and the children of   
the moon."  
" I suppose you're the moon princess," Haruka interjected in   
a dry, sarcastic tone as Setsuna stopped for a moment. " What kind   
of a story is this? Do you think I'm going to give up everything   
I've worked for, everything I care for just because you come in   
with some stupid story about how the Moon got blown up a thousand   
years ago? You're crazy, sister. I'm out of here. I don't have   
to stay and listen to this garbage." She got up and walked   
towards the door.   
" Haruka!" Michiru cried, stopping her in her   
tracks. " She's telling the truth. I know she is. Please,   
trust me on this. Please?"  
Haruka turned around, almost against her will. She   
knew that once she saw her eyes, she wouldn't be able to   
leave Michiru here. She looked anyway, and leaned back   
against the door with a sigh. Michiru still had a hold on   
her heart.  
" Michiru seems to know this is true, Haruka." Setsuna   
said. " I think that you know it also. I never said how long   
ago this happened. You said it was a thousand years ago. The   
moon kingdom will have been gone exactly a thousand years   
later this year.   
" Also, you called me sister. You may have meant it as   
figure of speech, but it's far closer to the truth than you   
would think. I believe that deep down, you understand what I'm   
saying. Can I show you one thing that may change your mind?"  
Haruka looked at Michiru for a moment. Michiru believed   
what this lady was saying. She'd hurt her by saying no. Haruka   
nodded, and Setsuna got to her feet while reaching into her   
purse. She took out a short scepter. It had heart on top of   
the handle, and this was topped by a sphere that reminded   
Haruka of a planet.  
" You were part of the Sailor Senshi, the last line of   
defense for the Moon Kingdom. Michiru, you were Sailor Neptune.   
Haruka, you were Sailor Uranus. The others represented the other   
planets of the solar system, with the exception of the Earth."  
" What's you're part in all this?" Haruka said. " You   
mentioned something about us being like sisters."  
Setsuna smiled gently at Haruka. She drew the scepter   
around her in a circle as her voice rang out.  
" Pluto Planet Power, Make-up!"  
  
*****************************************************  
  
A cascade of purple light rose up around Setsuna. When   
it faded, she was no longer wearing the stylish jacket and   
skirt she had on before. Her new attire was the short skirt   
and white blouse of her costume. She looked at the two   
girls to judge their reactions, and was surprised when Haruka   
bolted past her and out the door.   
" Haruka!" Michiru cried, but there was no stopping   
her this time. They could hear her crying as she raced down   
the hallway. Michiru started to follow her, but stopped   
after a few steps.   
" I'm sorry, Pluto. I know she's the one. I knew it   
as soon as I set eyes on her. She just needs some time to   
get used to it. I'd be surprised too, except for the fact   
I knew something like this would happen."   
" She can't deny her past, Michiru." Sailor Pluto   
responded. " She knows she can't. She'll come around soon. We   
don't have much time left."   
" Isn't time your specialty?"   
" I guard it. I don't dare play around with it. The   
damage would be too severe. Here, this is for you." She   
held out a scepter similar to her own to Michiru. " You   
know what to do. Just think about it, and the information   
will come back to you. I can't stay here long. I have many   
other things to attend to."  
Michiru held the scepter out and drew it around her   
in a circle as a cylinder of water rose up around her.  
" Neptune Planet Power, Make-up!"  
After a moment looking at herself in the mirror, Sailor   
Neptune turned to Pluto.  
" I know we have tough times ahead of us. I remember   
the joke, Setsuna. When you show up, all Hell breaks loose."  
  
*******************************************************  
  
She somehow made it out to the car and drove it   
home, even though she could barely see through her   
tears. Why did this have to happen now? This is the   
first time she had felt this happy in all her life. She   
was on her way to achieving her dream of racing and she   
had someone to love. Why now?  
Everything the woman had said was true. She knew it.   
She knew what was going to happen as soon as she saw Sailor   
Pluto. Even the name had sprung into her mind. She   
remembered her friends on the moon. The Sailor Senshi,   
her sisters-in-arms.  
She was a part of that past life. It was not as   
clear as the one she now lived, but the emotions that   
her other life had were far stronger than the one she   
had now, except for Michiru. She sunk down on to a couch,   
pulled her knees up and put her arms around them as she   
sat in the dark.   
She'd have to apologize to Michiru for running out   
like that. She'd have to accept her past as Michiru had. It   
was then that she realized it wasn't dark in the room   
anymore. A scepter like the one Pluto had used hung in the   
air before her, glowing a soft golden light that gently   
illuminated the room. It was just like the light of a clear   
morning, beautiful enough to take her breath away, and full   
of all the promises and hopes of a new day.  
Her hand had almost grabbed it when the fears came   
rushing back in, just as they had when Setsuna had transformed   
earlier in the evening.   
" No," she whispered and snatched her hand back. The   
scepter stayed there for a few more tempting moments and faded   
away from sight. She could still feel the longing for it and   
what it promised in her heart. Why was she afraid? Why should   
she fear her past?  
The answer came to her. She was afraid of what her past   
would do to her future. If she took the scepter and the guise   
of Sailor Uranus, what would happen to her present life? She   
had just found how good this life could be. If this had happened   
a year ago, before she had met Michiru, she would have done it.   
She could give up the racing. She could follow what she knew   
was her destiny.   
The scepter would be back. She would have to make the   
decision. She could give up everything, unless the price was   
giving up her friend.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
That night, she dreamed. Vivid, clear images of her   
home. Not the one she was at, nor her parent's home, but   
the one she had in her past. She remembered the people,   
the buildings, and the sights and sounds of the city around   
the palace on the moon. She even remembered the wine vendor   
at her favorite tavern who never would accept payment for   
a glass of her homeworld's finest. This generosity always   
surprised her, even though she knew what profits the man   
lost. The cost to transport goods between the planets was   
nearly ruinous to merchants. A bottle would command a fortune   
down on Earth. She never refused him, but she never would   
drink more than a glass a night when she was at that tavern.  
She loved that place. The tavern, the palace on the   
moon, everything. It hurt as much to see it in her dreams   
as to watch it be destroyed. The attack caught them all by   
surprise. The Guard was buying them time as they conferred   
on their plan. She remembered the night far too clearly for   
her liking.  
The ball came to an abrupt end for them when Pluto   
appeared and summoned them away. They had all changed out   
of the gowns that the Martian king had given them for the   
occasion. It had been only five years since his daughter   
had been called to service, but it was still a source of   
pride for him. Now, they wore their traditional garb and   
were ready for battle. She had gathered the others in a circle   
around her. She took her sword and sketched out a square in   
the earth of the garden.   
" Here's the plan. Mercury and Neptune will take the front   
of their line. I'll be on the right, near Neptune. Mars will be   
on my right toward their rear. Venus and Jupiter will take the   
left side.   
" Mercury. Neptune. Start off by slowing their front   
down. That'll give us the chance to crowd their rear into   
the middle. I want a lake out there if you can manage it,   
but I'll settle for a swamp. After you two have done that,   
we'll advance. Mercury, stay back a bit but don't let them   
move forward. Just hold them there. You're our last line to   
block the palace. Keep up a fog as long as you can. Their   
spell casters can't hit what they can't see."  
Mercury nodded her assent. She was standing facing half   
away from the others and was watching the battle through her   
visor. Uranus didn't mind the girl seeming like she was not   
paying attention. Mercury was the quickest thinker of the group   
and would have been able to repeat every word she said, and   
she hoped the girl would come up with an insight into their   
enemies from her observations.  
" Neptune and I will go towards the center and take out   
that monster in the middle. That thing killed too many of the   
guard for my liking. The rest of you, stay on the regulars   
and give special attention to the spell casters. Those you   
hit hard with everything you've got. Stay with the low   
powered stuff for the troops and make sure to conserve   
your energy. This fight isn't going to be over even after   
we take down the army. Saturn?"  
" Yes?" the one with the glaive replied in her   
eerily calm voice.  
" I know you want a part of this, but you're with   
the Queen. You've got the ultimate responsibility. We're   
all expendable here, but she isn't. Also, no offensive   
powers, except at her command, Saturn. If she wants to   
play spoilsport, that's fine, but I won't order it."  
" Just like the Guard is expendable, Uranus? They're   
getting slaughtered out there. Why are we letting this   
happen?" Jupiter said, tears in her eyes. She had several   
friends among the guards and had spent much time helping   
them in training. Their losses were especially hard on her.   
Uranus put her hand on Jupiter's shoulder and gave it a gentle   
squeeze.   
" I'm sorry, Jupiter. I know it hurts. This isn't   
my plan, but it's the best one. The commander of the Guard   
came up with it. He knew what would happen. They all knew   
what would happen. We have to make sure this works so   
their sacrifice will not be in vain. Atlantis has already   
fallen to her. We don't have our ally to help us.   
" O.K. Move out and take positions. Watch for the   
waves up front. That's the signal. Pluto is holding up her   
end. We have to do our part. Everybody except Mars, move out!"  
The girls ran to their positions. Uranus turned to   
the firechild. She was the newest one of the Senshi. She'd   
done well in training, but this would be her first real   
test. They couldn't afford her freezing up.  
" Mars, I know this is tough for you. You hid it   
better than Jupiter, but the losses are hurting you   
already. Just relax. It'll work out. I've been training   
you for this. You won't hesitate. I have faith in you."   
Mars gave her a smile and a quick, impulsive hug.   
" Thank you, Uranus. Thank you for believing in   
me. I won't let you down." She turned and ran off to   
her position on their right flank. Uranus went to her   
position on the right, pausing only to give Neptune what   
could be a last embrace on her way.  
Mercury led off with a fog bank from her bubbles   
and shrouded the front ranks in mist. Then, she and Neptune   
combined the 'Shining Aqua Illusion' with 'Deep Submerge'   
to create a freezing field of mud out of the gardens the   
invaders had been moving through. A bird of flame rose up   
from her right and joined with a dragon made of lightning   
to cavort around each other for a moment through a shimmering   
field of falling stars before all three fell upon the enemy   
to lay waste among the ranks. She smiled grimly. Venus, Mars   
and Jupiter were showing off, but the hesitation in the   
advance of their enemy was worth it. She concentrated for a   
moment, and let loose a 'World Shaking' into the troops ahead   
of her. She broke into a run while drawing her sword as they   
fell to the ground.   
It was over in minutes. The men really didn't have a   
chance, and Beryl had kept her power in reserve. They had   
been slaughtered. The few remaining had clustered around   
the center where Beryl stood by her banner. There was only   
about five hundred or so left out of her army.   
The Senshi were relatively unhurt. She had sustained a   
gash in her thigh as she drove her sword through the heart   
of the shadow creature that was her main concern during the   
battle. The firechild had already gently cauterized it to   
keep it from bleeding until a healer could attend to it. Mars   
then took her place in the loose circle that surrounded the   
knot of confused men.  
As she stepped forth to demand their enemies surrender,   
the ranks parted. Beryl walked out, followed by the four   
warlords of Atlantis. The evil queen didn't act vanquished.   
She walked forward a few steps in front of her troops and smiled.  
That was when she woke from the nightmare.  
  
******************************************************  
  
Setsuna drove away from where she had parked outside   
of Haruka's apartment. She really didn't like what she had   
to do here tonight, or to Artemis earlier. The problem was   
that there was so little time, unless she broke the rules.   
That was something she dared not do, even in this situation.   
It wasn't so bad yet as to make her consider changing the   
past. Causing these visions was close enough to make her   
nervous.  
She didn't have the luxury of waiting for   
Haruka to accept herself as Uranus. She'd known the   
one who was reincarnated here from her past life on   
the moon. She also knew most of her predecessors. All   
were so stubborn it made you want to hit them.  
Why couldn't she be more like Neptune? Michiru   
had known what was happening as soon as she saw Setsuna.   
It certainly would have been easier on her. She wouldn't   
have to resort to bending the rules by sending these   
visions under the guise of dreams.  
After a few more moments, she chided herself for   
being too uptight about this. These girls were still her   
friends from a long time ago. This reincarnation wasn't   
anything like what had happened on the moon. She had a much   
easier time of it when she started down her long path. Her   
frustration at them was not appropriate.   
The Moon Kingdom had only been around for about two   
hundred years when she was born. She had grown up in a well   
off family. Her father was a scholar and taught at one of   
the libraries there. Her mother was a scribe at the palace.   
She'd grown up among the stacks of scrolls made of parchment   
and papyrus. Her dream was being a historian, for she had   
always loved the old stories.   
The tales told to the children had always entertained   
her, but it was the events they told of that captured her   
heart. She had read most of the histories in several   
different libraries by the time she was ten, and was allowed   
to attend classes with the older children of the nobility by   
the time she was twelve due to her excellent progress. She   
knew how it had all started.  
Many years ago, there were men who had learned, tricked   
or stole from the gods the knowledge of magic. Like any group   
of people, some of these were good and some were evil. A group   
of the evil ones banded together to try and control the world   
of that time. They called themselves magi and set loose   
horrors onto the world to weaken their foes.  
A few men and women, braver than most, went forth and   
fought these monsters. Some, like the sons of Zeus, became   
known as heroes. Some of the others did not seek fame from   
their labor.  
Orion had spent many years hunting these monsters in   
the less populated regions to the north. This led to the   
name that people knew him by. They called him 'the' hunter.  
He didn't do it for glory or riches. He just wanted to leave   
a safer world for his children.  
For a long time, he did this on his own. After several   
years, he became close friends with a young girl who aided   
him in his battle. She taught him much about the forest and   
using the bow. They were very successful together and had   
caught most of the monsters in the area.   
Orion eventually settled down and gave up his career   
as a hunter when middle age began to slow him down. He said   
good bye to his friend and settled down in a village near   
his old home. It wasn't long before he was the leader of   
these people. He had married and had two children when an   
old priestess of Aphrodite came to him as he worked in the   
fields.  
The goddess had a message for him. It concerned love,   
and that fell under her jurisdiction. He had loved someone   
before he met his wife, she said. The girl he had hunted with   
was in danger. She had been trapped by the very magi who   
had created the monsters they had hunted.   
Orion returned to his home and took up his sword and   
bow. The hunter ventured far to the east to the stronghold   
of the magi. He crept in under cover of the night to free   
his old friend. They had laid cunning snares and traps for   
the unwary, but he knew of these from his hunts and turned   
them back on their creators. For three nights, he stalked   
and hunted the magi and their servants until he found his   
friend.   
She was held in a cell at the heart of the fortress. Her   
captors had not been kind to her. The vibrant young girl he   
remembered was now nothing more than an empty shell and fading   
quickly. He held her for a few moments while she told him who   
she was and what they did to her before dying in his arms.  
She had been Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and the   
moon. The magi had stolen her essence to further their plans   
for enslaving mankind. She was gone, but her spirit remained,   
trapped in a crystal by the magi.  
Orion had killed many of the magi and was able to steal   
the crystal in the confusion. He returned to his home, but an   
attack by one of the magi nearly killed his family on his   
return. He knew he would not be safe there, so he fled west   
with his family to Atlantis.   
The Atlantean king owed much to Orion, for his lands   
were rid of monsters by the hunter. He also wise in the ways   
of magic, and they conferred for a great length. The plan they   
came up with was a risky one, but it offered Orion haven and   
the chance to keep the crystal from the magi.   
The scholars, the king and his mages were able, with   
the help of Orion and the crystal, to found a city on the   
moon. They built a gate that could be used to travel there   
almost as easily as walking through a doorway. Many of the   
families from Orion's village and a small number of Atlanteans   
chose to try and make new homes with him on the moon.  
The magi continued their search, but were not able to   
track him. The settlement grew into a fair city and the power   
of the crystal was used again to form villages on each of the   
planets. These new communities were small, and life was hard,   
but they slowly prospered.   
It was not long after the other planets were settled that   
the first of the Sailor Senshi appeared. A child was born on   
one of the moons of Jupiter who had the sigil of that planet   
glowing on her forehead. In the next few years, a child was   
born with the sigil for each planet, save the Earth and cold,   
distant Pluto.   
These children, all girls, grew up with wondrous powers   
and wisdom far beyond their years. They became the protectors   
of their planets and the Moon Kingdom. It was found they aged   
little once they finished growing up, and lived a longer life   
than most people. The only exception to this was Orion, for the   
king had discovered that the passage of years was slower for   
him due to the power of the crystal.   
They were fortunate they had the wily old hunter. The   
magi found them soon after the celebration of the sixtieth   
year on the moon. The King had learned much of magic over   
the years and was able to block the attacks and carry the   
fight to their foes on Earth.   
The victory had been achieved, but at a terrible price.   
Orion had fallen, as had the seven Sailor Senshi. The   
King's son took up the crystal and became the new ruler,   
as the crystal would only seem to work for those of Orion's   
blood. Over the next year, seven more girls had the sigils   
appear on their foreheads. Most of these were infants, but   
three of them had been in their teens.   
The Moon Kingdom continued to prosper under the new   
King and their new protectors. A few of the Senshi were lost   
due to age or combat, for there were still wars on Earth and   
they aided their allies in Atlantis. When one of these was   
lost, a new Senshi was usually called to service within a year   
and the mark of the planet would appear on her forehead as a   
sign.   
Setsuna finally got her wish when she was sixteen. She   
was chosen to be one of the teachers and caretakers of the   
young princess who had been born several years earlier. The   
rulers of the Moon Kingdom considered education to be of the   
utmost importance in the proper instruction of a new ruler.   
The next four years were happy times for her. She had   
won the respect and trust of her pupil and of the sages at   
the palace and had helped negotiate several agreements with   
ambassadors from the nations on Earth for the exchange of   
knowledge. The king was planning to build the most comprehensive   
library the world had seen and many agents on Earth were acquiring   
scrolls in all the lands for that purpose.  
It was the morning following a marathon session with an   
Athenian scholar that her life was turned upside down. As she   
looked in the polished brass disc while she brushed her hair,   
she saw the difference in her reflection. The brush fell from   
her hands to fall clattering on the tile floor. She sat in   
shock for several hours before going to the king and   
interrupting his meeting with his councilors. He was angry   
with her until she pushed the hair away from her forehead,   
revealing the glowing sigil of Pluto on her brow.   
  
*****************************************************  
  
That's twice tonight, he thought to himself. Once   
could be a coincidence, but two times is a certainty. The   
effects of her use of time was impossible to hide from him,   
now that he had the green orb he held in his hands attuned   
to her. He would know whenever she moved through or near   
the barrier.  
He stood up and placed the orb in the stand on the   
ivory table against the far wall of the scrying chamber   
in his tower. The possibilities ran through his mind as   
he went to his library to think. The servant outside the   
door was sent to fetch a pot of tea as he sat down on a   
chair and put his feet up on the mahogany table.  
If she was here, the crystal would show up soon. His   
crystal, now that the others of his order were long dead.   
There was no other possibility that made sense. She couldn't   
affect the past where she needed to in order to restore it.   
His scrying and his spells had confirmed this theory some   
nine hundred years ago. The only thing she could do was to wait,   
just like he had to, for a sign of what happened that day when   
a queen gave her life so that her subjects might live.   
A few faint ripples that happened sixteen years ago had   
led him to take the time to make the green orb into a warning   
device. Now, he could track this adversary. She was the one who   
scared him, if he would admit to such an emotion. Her power gave   
him plenty of reasons to be cautious, unlike the others he had   
observed in the same area she was now in. With luck, they would   
run into one another and be all the weaker when he made his move.   
He drank some of the tea after a spell determined there   
was no poison in it or on the cup. The slave was of no concern,   
but some of his own apprentices might try something like that to   
defeat him. It never hurt to be careful. He would sit back, like   
a spider that had spun his web, and see what came. He had learned   
to be very patient over the last two and a half millennia. A few   
more years of waiting could easily be endured.  
  
****************************************************  
  
The morning sun made her squint as she slid the   
screen open to see what the wind that night had done to   
the courtyard of the shrine. She loved the trees and their   
shade, but cleaning up the leaves was a downside to them. Sure   
enough, the slight morning breeze was causing little clusters   
of leaves to dance around and mock her.  
She slid the screen shut and went to change before   
starting her day. The long T-shirt was tossed into a hamper   
and she got out the white blouse and red skirt she would wear   
today. Once again, she'd fallen asleep before putting up her   
hair and it took a few minutes to untangle and straighten out.   
It was her worrying about a vision she had a few days   
ago and the dream that same night that had kept her up so   
late the night before. Whatever the cause, the feeling of   
premonition had chilled her to the bone. She couldn't get over   
this feeling that something was about to happen.   
Her sandals were just inside the main door, which she   
opened while slipping into them. She stepped out and stretched,   
her black hair streaming out behind her as she walked to the   
small tool shed in the back to get her weapon for her daily   
duel with the leaves. Her grandfather should really get one of   
those leaf blowers for this task, as much as it would gall him   
to change years of tradition.  
The breeze continued to mock her as she worked, blowing   
a few leaves clear of the pile and whipping her hair around. She   
was just pushing it back behind her ears again when the voice   
spoke from above her.  
" I have a ribbon you can use for that."  
She leapt forward in a low dive and rolled to her feet   
while spinning around into a crouch, the broom held before   
her. There hadn't been anyone there a few moments before. She   
was sure of that; she would've felt their presence.  
Her heart was still racing as she looked up into the   
tree she had been under. A young woman sat on one of the   
branches. She wore a yellow sun dress and a wide-brimmed hat,   
like she was planning to be outside for a while. In her hand   
was a length of red ribbon.  
Rei nodded at her, forcing herself to relax and hoping   
the blush had faded from her cheeks from her embarrassment at   
her reaction. How had she have missed her? The other slipped   
forward off of the branch and dropped to the ground, landing   
as lightly as if it had been two feet instead of twelve.  
She could see her eyes and hair as she walked around behind   
her. The blue eyes were not so unusual, but the turquoise hair   
was. She was only a few years older than herself, she decided   
after seeing her up close. She had a very mature manner to her   
that had made Rei think that she was older than that at first.  
" I'm sorry to have startled you," the girl said as she   
gathered Rei's hair and tied the ribbon around it. " It's   
fortunate I had a red one. It matches your clothes and is a   
good color on you." She walked over to the steps and sat down   
while reaching into her purse.  
" I know it's not much of an offering, but would you   
like some hot tea? I'd normally make something to bring in,   
but I only decided to come in while I was walking this morning.   
I was just waiting for the shrine to open." She took out a can   
and held it towards Rei with a small, friendly smile.   
She went over, sat down next to her on the steps and took   
the can, which steamed slightly in the fading morning chill. It   
was one of the sweetened teas with milk that she would sometimes   
drink. One of her friends at school compared drinking these   
to drinking a candy bar.   
" I have the extra because I'm so used to buying two of   
everything out of habit."  
She seemed to want to talk about something. At least   
that much was clear to Rei, although she couldn't understand   
the 'feel' she was getting from her. It was totally unlike   
what she usually felt from people. There was an opening for   
her in the other's last words, however, so she took a chance.  
" A boyfriend?" she said, watching her out of the   
corner of her eye as she carefully used a fingernail to   
open the can and take a sip of the still hot liquid. Her   
question must have hit close to home, for the other girl   
blushed slightly.  
" No, it's not a boyfriend," she said after a moment. " I   
met someone several months ago and we became very close. We   
just found out something that we would have to do. We both   
know we don't have a choice in the matter, but she still   
hasn't come around to accepting it."  
Rei nearly dropped the can as her cheeks began to get   
hot again. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. This   
girl couldn't possibly be-  
" It's not what you think," the other said quickly,   
as if reading her mind. She must have been bothered by this   
also, for the color had risen in her cheeks as well. " We   
have a very important job to do. We're the only ones who   
can do it. She knows it as well as I do, but she's afraid   
of the changes that will happen to us because of it."  
They were quiet for a few minutes. The girl was   
clearly thinking about something that was bothering her   
and Rei knew better than to intrude. Sometimes, her grandfather   
had explained to her, the best thing you could do for someone   
with a problem was to just listen to them. They had both   
finished their tea when the girl finally spoke.  
" My friend knows what she has to do. I know she'll do   
the right thing. I just wanted to come here to say a prayer   
for her and to ask if the spirits will ease her pain while   
she's thinking about it."  
Rei gave the girl her best sincere smile. The story   
had touched her heart for a moment. She walked over to the   
small booth that held the charms and prayers she would be   
selling later in the day. She took out a good luck charm   
and the basket of prayers and held them out to the girl.   
" Go ahead and take a prayer. I'll say one for you   
and your friend also."  
The girl took one at random from the ones she had   
drawn the night before from the bottom of the basket. Those   
hadn't been folded yet. She read it, smiled, and folded it   
up in the same style that Rei had used on the others. To her   
surprise, she also did it in half the time it took Rei to do   
her own distinct style. The girl smiled and bowed to her, and   
then turned and walked to the nearest tree.   
She tied the prayer onto the branches with all the   
others. She clasped her hands in front of her for a moment,   
bowed to the tree and walked back over to Rei. She picked up   
the cans and her purse. Rei held the charm out to her and smiled   
when the girl made an effort to refuse it.   
" Please, take it. You're far more sincere about this   
than most people are about their own problems. The only   
thing you wanted was entirely for someone else. That's very   
thoughtful of you."   
She had finally realized what it was that was different   
about the other girl. She was so used to people who wanted   
something for themselves from the spirits, even if they would   
never admit it. They wanted love, or money, or long life. The   
list went on and on. This girl truly didn't want anything for   
herself. She was here only because of her concern for another.   
Rei turned around to put the basket back under the   
counter of the booth, leaning over the counter to slide it   
into the usual spot. She heard the girl softly thank her, but   
when she turned around, the girl was gone.   
  
*****************************************************  
  
He woke up in the dark, fumbling for the light   
switch. He thought he could smell the sea, even though   
the nearest ocean was several miles away, and it was   
almost twice that to the first beaches that were not   
fouled by the shipping in the harbor. He finally found   
the switch, and turned it on to illuminate the room. He   
stared in shock at what he saw.  
The bed was drenched, like it had been caught in a   
storm. There were several strands of seaweed draped around   
him. A small, frightened fish flopped around. The fish was   
probably as confused as he was. He could tell it was salt   
water from the way his skin was starting to slightly itch   
as it dried.   
First, he scooped up the fish and put it into the   
small aquarium he had in his front room. Luckily for the   
new resident, he had converted over to salt water several   
months ago. The fish seemed to be doing well after a few   
minutes. While he watched it, he ran through the day's events   
and the dream he just had.   
He had a photo shoot early in the morning. That meant   
being there about two hours before sunrise. The shoot was a   
short one, as the clear light of the morning did not last   
long. He had gotten home a few hours ago and took a nap to   
try to catch up on lost sleep. The dream was a confusing   
one to him. He was wandering around a dark, deserted  
castle in the tuxedo he had bought a few days ago. He was   
looking for someone there when the pain came.   
It doubled him over, and he nearly choked on the   
sea water around him. The armor he was wearing was dragging   
him down from the weight of the black metal and the sword at   
his side. His arms were wrapped around someone who was   
coughing and fighting for breath. A girl, from her long   
hair and slender figure.  
Before his strength gave out, he had managed to move   
them in towards the shore enough that her feet could touch   
the bottom. After that, he woke up. The tuxedo was still in   
his closet, the protective wrapper still on it from the   
store. He hadn't worn it yet, except to make sure the   
alterations were done correctly. He certainly didn't have   
any armor here, or a sword. He hadn't even worn one on a   
shoot or in a play, although that might change because the   
drama group was planning some Shakespeare soon.   
Still, these events troubled him. This was almost   
like that time two years ago, when he blacked out while   
in the dressing room at a studio he was at for a shoot. He   
had come to with a few leaves in his hair and two strands   
of long blonde hair on his clothes while the production   
assistant was pounding on the door and calling for him to   
take his place out on the set.  
If only his memories weren't so unclear about his   
past. They might hold a clue to what was happening to   
him. He'd been on his own after the accident that his   
parents were lost in. He got out of the orphanage at an   
early age, and put himself through school with a small   
scholarship due to his good grades and a little bit of   
modeling work.   
These two things must somehow be related to his   
past. He didn't know how they were related, but he had   
discovered a clue. The girl in the water. She had long   
blonde hair, just like the two strands he had found after   
the blackout and that he had kept all this time.  
  
******************************************************  
  
Her parents were chewing her out as she sat on   
the beach and recovered her breath. It had been a close   
one. She was a fair swimmer, and had swam out to just   
past the area where the waves stared to break on the   
beach. The water there must have been deeper than she   
though, for a riptide had caught her in it's undertow   
and pulled her down.  
Somehow, she had gotten in to where she could   
touch the bottom and had made it to shore, where she   
lay when her parents came running up. Her brother, Shingo,   
had seen what was happening and ran to get their father.   
They berated Usagi for a long time about her   
carelessness, and decided they were not bringing her   
back to the beach for a while. Shingo had made a comment   
about her even being clumsy in the water, although her   
mom had boxed his ears for that. She was concerned about   
her daughter and frightened by what had happened.   
Usagi sat through it, looking out at the water,   
hoping for a sign of someone out there. It was just as   
she finally let out her last breath and started taking   
in water that she thought she felt someone's arms around   
her. She had felt the metal he was wearing and wondered   
how he could carry both of them with all that weight. She   
was still coughing and choking from the water she had almost   
inhaled and was not able to see him clearly.   
By the time she could stand, he had disappeared.   
She hoped he was not hurt, for he had saved her. She   
couldn't have made it without his aid. She spent a long   
time there hoping for a sign of his survival, until her   
brother dragged her away as her parents made their way to   
the car at the end of the day.  
  
********************************************************  
  
" Kaolinite," the shadowed figure in the corner asked   
as she walked into the dark laboratory. " How did it go?"  
She quickly composed herself. He had startled her,   
sitting in the dark like that. The light from the room   
behind her only made his glasses shimmer with reflected   
light when he spoke. It was the only sign that there was   
anybody in the corner.  
" I'm sorry, Professor Tomoe. It had worked as you   
planned until someone interfered with the daemon."  
" Interfered?" he said mildly.  
" Two women. Or, I should say, one woman and one   
girl. The woman was in her early twenties, the girl probably   
about fifteen. Similar outfits; a short skirt with a white   
top and a ribbon, with different colors for both. The woman   
carried a staff, which is what she used to destroy the statue   
that the egg had animated."  
She stood, waiting for his response. She was glad she   
had put the white lab coat on over her dress, for it was   
chilly in here. A lock of her red hair had fallen over one   
of her eyes, which she brushed back when he finally spoke.  
" This is interesting. Continue your search for likely   
candidates. I'll have another daemon egg available in a few   
days and we can see how it works then. The first batch is   
coming along quite nicely, so I want you to find a number of   
possible targets. We need to find the talismans as soon as   
possible."  
She nodded and vanished from the room. Her coat slowly   
settled to the floor where she had stood as he considered the   
implications of this potential setback for several minutes.   
It was only when he had risen and checked on the vial of pink   
fluid that rested in the flame of a burner on the work table   
that he began to laugh.  
  
********************************************************  
  
The last two weeks had been agony for Michiru. Haruka   
had been avoiding her at school on the few days she had been   
there. Her messages were not returned. She'd even gone by   
Haruka's apartment, but she wasn't there.   
She knew better than to push Haruka on this. The girl   
could be as stubborn as an ox when she wanted to be, and as   
difficult to move. She would come around on this.  
Michiru walked into her house after Setsuna had   
dropped her off. They had fought a monster today that   
was terrorizing some people at a mall. A statue had come   
to life and had knocked out the shoppers with a cloud of   
darkness that left them unconscious. When they arrived,   
it was going from body to body as if looking for something,   
using a beam of black light like one might use a flashlight   
to look for something in the dark. It had been a tough fight,   
for the thing had used a hostage as a shield until she had   
distracted it and Pluto got it from behind. They still didn't   
know what it was after. Setsuna had promised to try and get   
more information on what was happening and get back to her.   
She had taken a shower and changed into a dress before   
hitting the kitchen for a late dinner. Her side of the house   
had a small kitchen that she usually used instead of the   
larger one in the common area in the middle. She was surprised   
to see an open bottle of cabernet there, with a glass next to   
it and about a glassful missing from the bottle. Next to it was   
a tray with a salad on it and a yellow rose in a slender vase.   
She picked them all up and made her way to the conservatory.   
She opened the door and found the lights were turned off.   
A few candles were lit and spaced around the room, their light   
just softening the darkness. The moon was just overhead and   
would soon illuminate the western side of the room in it's   
silvery light. There was a wine glass on one table in the   
corner near a couch, but the candles had been placed to   
leave that corner in shadow. A key lay on the table next   
to it.  
" Haruka?" she said softly into the darkness.  
" Over here." came the soft, almost whispered reply. She   
moved through the room, confident in her memory of where   
everything was. She sat on the couch and put the tray down. She   
looked at the empty wine glass as she poured one for herself   
and tilted the bottle to see if her companion wanted a   
refill. Haruka declined her offer with a slight movement   
of her hand.   
They sat in silence for several minutes. She knew   
that Haruka was here for a reason and she didn't want to   
force her.   
" I'm sorry about the night of the recital, Michiru. I   
shouldn't have reacted that way. You asked me to listen to   
her, and I ran out. I'm sorry."  
" It's all right, Haruka. Have you gotten over   
it? Something she said or did really upset you. I've   
never heard you cry before."  
" I think so." She paused for a moment, then   
reached out and refilled her glass and took a sip. " I   
knew who she was as soon as I walked in the door. That   
whole thing I did was a sham, Michiru. When I saw her,   
I knew things were going to change for us.   
" That's why I ran. I just got to where I could   
really enjoy this life. I had everything I wanted, Michiru.   
I was racing and I found you. For one brief moment, I was   
happy. I haven't been like that before. I don't want to lose   
it now."  
" You won't lose anything, Haruka. I still remember   
everything. Now, I know more about who I really am. Why do   
you think you'll lose something?"  
" For the past two weeks, I've had the same nightmare.   
The last battle on the moon. I wake up from it two, three   
times a night. Beryl smiles, and I wake up ready to scream.   
If I do this, we'll be fighting. Eventually, we'll get hurt.   
I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, Michiru. I came to   
realize it just before I left to go to America." She paused   
and took a deep breath.   
" Michiru, I'm more concerned with what happens to you   
than to myself. When I haven't been sleeping after the   
nightmares, I'm sick from worrying about what you're going   
through. I can't stand the thought of you being hurt anymore."  
She reached out and gently put her hand over Haruka's   
on the couch between them. " I know, Haruka. I'm concerned   
about you also. You've felt that way for a while now, haven't   
you? I was so tempted to find you these past two weeks and   
make you understand. I also knew that I'd hurt you if I did.   
I didn't want to do that for anything.   
" Haruka, I want you to help us, but only if you   
want to. If you aren't certain, don't do it. I don't want   
you hurt, either. I'll understand if you don't want to do   
it."   
They sat there for several more minutes, just holding   
hands and thinking about what they discussed. She could   
tell Haruka was finally beginning to relax from the strain   
of her burden.   
" Michiru, why are you taking this so calmly? I'd be   
going nuts if I was in your shoes," she said and smiled at   
her friend.   
" I've always known that my life would be different   
than what it was, Haruka. I could always feel-"  
" Oh, not the more-sensitive-than-thou artist thing   
again, Michiru. I still don't believe it." Haruka interrupted,   
teasing her about the route her explanation was going. She   
always did have problems with that line of hers and never   
failed to tease her when Michiru tried to explain how she   
felt the things she did. The tone of voice Haruka had used   
reassured her, also. She sounded better than she had a few   
minutes ago. She's getting over it, she said to herself as   
her concerns for her friend dropped away.   
" It's true, Haruka, at least in my case. I always   
knew that my life was going to go off in some strange   
direction someday. It's just like I knew we'd be friends   
as soon as I saw you or when I knew that our pasts are   
connected. I can feel it, somehow. I knew how I felt   
about you several months ago."  
They were quiet for a few more moments, and then   
Haruka took her hand and kissed her palm. " I'm glad you   
feel the same way. Would you do me a favor?"  
" Certainly"  
" Go get your violin. I want to listen to you play   
tonight."  
Michiru left the room and came back a few minutes later   
with her violin. She'd spent a few moments tuning it in her   
room. As she approached the door to the conservatory, she heard   
Beethoven in the background. 'Fur Elise' was the name of the   
piece. Haruka must have gotten the CD player going, she thought   
as she walked in.   
She was shocked to see her friend at the piano. The sound   
system was off. She had some trouble a few times, but recovered   
well and then moved to the 'Moonlight' Sonata after motioning   
for her to be quiet.  
" I didn't know you played," Michiru said to her after   
she finished. Haruka motioned for her to come over and sit  
beside her on the bench.   
" I've been out of practice for a long time. My parents   
wanted me to learn it so I could be more ladylike when I was   
younger. I started practicing again a couple of months ago so   
I could surprise you."   
" Consider me surprised. Those are not easy pieces." She   
moved around and sat on the right side of the bench so she   
would not be in Haruka's way at the keyboard with her   
violin. " What do you want begin with?"   
" Improvisation."  
The results were very surprising to her. Haruka   
was a lot better than she let on, and as they wandered   
around from classical to jazz and blues and back, she   
realized that the normally extremely competitive girl   
was showing a different side of herself. She wasn't trying   
to push into the lead with her play. She stayed back and   
gave Michiru the foundation and support that made her   
violin soar to a new level.   
They stayed that way late into the night, making   
music together.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
The new Senshi was cause for great excitement   
among all the planets of the Moon Kingdom. She was   
the guest of honor at a lavish ball and then was bundled   
up and sent through a gate to the city on a moon of   
Uranus before she even realized what was going on. The   
court mages on the moon had sent enough of the crystals   
that held magical energy for the mage on Uranus to cast   
the transport spell that would take her to Pluto.   
It was the one planet that had never really been   
settled. There was a small group of mystics living there   
in seclusion. There was not even enough of a population   
base for a permanent gate to have been established. The   
explorers from the moon had built a temple on the planet,   
but the extreme cold and darkness was too much for most to   
bear and no settlers went there.   
The Senshi of Uranus was still relatively young   
looking, but Setsuna knew she was over a hundred years   
old. She had spent some time with Uranus and was shown   
around the city while the spells were prepared. The view   
was certainly different than the one from her place of   
birth. While the Earth was large compared to it's moon,   
Uranus was gigantic compared to the moon the city was on.   
The planet looked like it would fall and crush the city   
every time she looked at it.  
In time, she made the journey to Pluto itself. The   
cold was almost unbearable there, even with the enchanted   
clothing she had been given for the trip. The other Senshi   
had assured her she wouldn't need it once she got there. She   
stumbled her way through the gloom to the small temple that   
would be her new home for a while.  
She went into the temple and peered about at the sparse   
furnishings of the interior. There was a small altar, engraved   
with the same sigil that was on her forehead. A few small   
benches were pushed up against the back wall, away from the   
altar. The only other thing was an old bed frame in one corner   
near the altar.   
After putting away her few things, she took a blanket   
and folded it a few times to make a pad for her to sit on.   
The extreme cold would almost freeze her if she sat on the   
stone floor. She sat and put herself in a meditative trance,   
just like the other Senshi had told her to.   
She must have gotten up a few times, but she did not   
recall it. She ate of the food that was left inside of the   
door. The mystics must have left it for her. She would sleep   
for a few hours and then return to her meditations. After   
what seemed to be a couple of weeks, she realized she had   
finished what she needed to do here.  
She slept for several long hours after that and   
then went out to look around her temple. She was quite   
shocked to see Neptune, Uranus and Saturn standing   
there. Their images swam before her eyes for several   
minutes, like there were several of each standing before   
her, each slightly superimposed upon the other. Each   
image was slightly different from the next. It took all   
her concentration to make her eyes finally focus on the   
ones who were really in front of her.  
" Are you all right, Pluto?" Uranus questioned her.   
" I'm fine." she replied. " How did you all get   
here so quickly? The mage said he wouldn't be able to   
cast anything for a few months, at best."  
" It's been almost a year, Pluto." Saturn said   
to her in her even voice.   
" We were getting worried about you." Neptune   
finished for the three of them.   
" A year!" she said to them. " How long were   
you in meditation?"  
" A couple of weeks," Neptune replied. The   
others had the same answer, give or take a few days.   
" All I remember is getting up every several   
hours. I'd eat a little bit of the food the mystics   
left for me and then sleep for a few hours and go back   
into a trance. How could a year have passed? It only   
feels like a few days, maybe a few weeks, at the most."  
A brief flash of pain crossed Uranus' face. " I'm   
sorry, Pluto. They're all dead. It probably happened well   
before you got here, from the shape of the bodies."   
" Pluto, we need to talk," Saturn said after a few   
moments. " The three of us have been having premonitions of   
a danger. The others haven't had them, or don't regard these   
as a danger. Will you help us?"  
And so began their little 'conspiracy', as they   
called it. They started a careful watch on the outlying   
reaches of the solar system for anything attempting to   
attack them from outside. It meant that she didn't get   
to spend as much time with her new sisters, but she was   
still there to help them and grew to love them. She helped   
the others raise and instruct the younger ones as the   
sisters she knew passed away.   
The losses in battle diminished over the years, but   
time still held sway over the Senshi. They lived longer   
than the other people and rarely aged much beyond the   
initial bloom of their womanhood, but time came at them   
with a vengeance when their days came near the end.   
She was the exception to this. The minute details   
that indicated the slow aging never occurred to her like   
it did to her friends. She outlived them all and showed   
no signs that it would change. She was sad about this for   
about a century, but she slowly outgrew the feeling of   
despair that hit her when one of her sisters left. She   
was starting to understand why it was happening.  
When she was not with her sisters or on her   
turns on watch, she haunted the vaunted libraries on   
the Moon. The Great Library in Alexandria was but a   
poor cousin to the repository of knowledge on the moon.   
The kings and queens never let this foundation of their   
power weaken over the years and had agents constantly   
working to expand and preserve it.  
Orion's son had taken all the scrolls and writings   
he could from the magi and had burned the rest to keep   
it from falling back into the hands of any surviving   
enemies. It was in these old grimoires she found what   
led her to her true duty. One of the magi had been   
studying time. The implications staggered the historian   
in her.   
This was a tool of great destruction and one that   
could destroy everything her kingdom had stood for and   
everything her sisters had died for. A fool's blunder or   
the hand of a devious enemy would wreak the same horrible   
effects. Everything would be lost.  
She spent long hours meditating on this and   
discovered that she had a degree of control over time.   
She had already used it unconsciously to extend her life. She   
spent three score years alone in her temple on the frigid   
planet learning to master her talent. Her control grew and   
she discovered how to use the staff she found in the temple   
on her return. Her sisters from the outer worlds took up her   
patrols while she dedicated herself to looking for the   
disturbances that were the first sign of a change in   
the natural flow of events.  
It was just before Beryl's attack that she realized   
what was happening. The multitude of gates opening in   
Atlantis caused a slight ripple in the time stream and   
she quickly went to the moon to warn her sisters and the   
queen.  
She felt out of place at the formal ball as she strode   
in wearing her uniform. Her sisters and the queen understood   
the significance and met her in the council chambers to   
discuss the plans. They all looked so young to her. Serenity   
looked the oldest, but the youthful looking queen didn't   
initially seem to inspire much confidence. It was only her   
calm demeanor and the iron resolve in her stance that made   
her think that the woman was really a queen. She would be   
the equal of any king when it came to the safety of her realm.   
The Senshi were younger looking than their queen.   
The whole group was relatively young right now and could   
be mistaken for children dressing in the clothes of the   
Senshi she remembered over the years. Venus was the oldest   
and the leader of the group. Uranus was only slightly younger   
than her with Mercury a close third. The others were hardly   
older than they looked, with Mars only having served for five   
short years. It was only their eyes that gave her confidence.   
These 'children' would be the equal of any of her sisters in   
the past.  
The military situation was quickly examined and a   
course of action agreed upon. Venus deferred the command   
during the actual fight to Uranus due to the tactical   
skills of the latter. It broke her heart to abandon them,   
but Pluto had the hardest job. She would return to her   
distant planet and wait it out. She had balked at Uranus'   
decision, but Venus and the Queen both agreed and she left   
for her distant post only after a royal order.   
The minutes seemed like hours as she stepped through   
the gate and into the unnoticed chill of her world. The   
gate closed and then died out behind her. They had decided   
to make sure the enemy could not follow her. It would be   
some time before she could even return to the moon unless   
she transported herself there. She could, but the transfer   
was exhausting and would leave her depleted for some time.   
She had barely settled herself before the altar when   
a wave of stark terror swept through her. She involuntarily   
cried out as it hit her. A moment later, before she had   
really recovered and realized it was from her sisters, the   
second assault on her senses began. A part of her soul   
seemed to be twisted and torn from her and she began to   
cry inconsolably.  
They were gone. A part of her life had just vanished. She   
didn't remember getting up, but she found herself running out   
the door and blindly down the path that led to the shells of   
the remaining buildings the old order of mystics had used. The   
wave of pain hit her just before she slammed into the remains   
of a wall.  
The agony was so bad she didn't feel the impact. Behind   
her, her staff burst into a nova of red light that penetrated   
the stone walls of the temple. The whole area glowed red, a   
dark red that made her think of blood. The implications sent   
chills down her back and deep into her heart.   
That last wave of pain wasn't something she felt from   
another. The alteration of the fabric of time was the source   
of the pain. Her heart pounded even faster as her fear drove   
her into a sprint to get her staff.   
The gate wasn't a pretty one, or a good one, for she   
came out several feet above her aiming point in the wing of   
the palace the queen resided in. She realized the error in   
this as she looked around her. The palace was gone. So was the   
city. Her gate was correctly placed, but there was several feet   
of floor and foundation missing.  
She sat near the center of a shallow crater that stretched   
out beyond the ends of the city. Only an occasional pillar jutted   
up to break the monotony, along with the remains of a wall to her   
left. No bodies were in view. There was little to even suggest   
that a city was here only a few minutes ago.  
The tears began to flow and didn't stop for a long time. She   
mourned in silence, with only an occasional sob breaking the   
ominous quiet. It was only when her resolve strengthened that   
she wiped away the last tear.   
She was the guardian of time. She had learned to   
manipulate it. She should be able to put it back to the   
way it was, whatever the consequences. She wanted her   
life back. The act required information, so she sat on a small   
boulder and closed her eyes, concentrating on what had   
just happened.   
Her plans died the moment she saw what occurred. The   
Senshi had routed the army of Beryl. Beryl had cut them   
down and destroyed the Moon Kingdom in one fell blast. Then,   
Queen Serenity held up the crystal with tears filling her   
eyes and a look of terrible suffering on her face. Everything   
went white for a split second all throughout the universe as   
the queen ripped apart space and time, her very life powering   
the spell she cast.   
Whatever Pluto did now would be of no effect. She couldn't   
even get near to that moment in time or space to do anything.   
Serenity had seen to that. Her sisters were gone, ripped out   
of this time and flung into another. The ambient temporal   
energy was so overwhelmed by Serenity's sacrifice that she   
could not even tell if they were sent to the future or the   
past. She was utterly, absolutely alone.  
The years slipped past with agonizing slowness. She   
had little interest in mankind right then and spent more time   
at first visiting the remains of the settlements on the   
different worlds. It was the same story wherever she went.   
The crystal had kept these colonies alive. They were doomed   
without it. The cities on Venus were almost gone already,   
thanks to the corrosive atmosphere. The Floating Palace   
that orbited Jupiter like one of it's moons had already   
been torn apart by the gravity of the huge planet. The others   
would be gone in a short while. She would be the only one   
to remember the glory that had been.   
She cursed her apparent immortality, but kept to   
her watch over the worlds. It was the only thing keeping   
her going. She visited the Earth occasionally to keep up   
on events there and found that the Moon Kingdom had gone   
the way of Atlantis and become nothing more than a legend. As   
the years passed, she made herself spend more time there and   
learn of the new achievements that were made so she could   
keep abreast of the new technologies the people of Earth   
devised.   
She would never forget the exact hour her hope was   
restored. She knew the time down to the smallest measurement   
she could make. The tear that Serenity made at the last battle   
was so noticeable that it would echo down the centuries. The next   
disturbance of the time stream was so slight she barely noticed   
it. She was trying to pinpoint the exact location and nature of   
what she thought she felt when two objects appeared like   
shooting stars to her perception of the time flow. She   
rejoiced at what she saw as the burden of a thousand years   
was tossed aside and replaced by happiness and hope.  
Two small metal cylinders had appeared on the   
Earth. They quickly dissolved, but the occupants caused   
a strain in the fabric just by being there due to their   
suspension between seconds for nearly a millennia. She   
had designed and built theses capsules and she knew how   
to track the two cats who had been transported forward   
by their queen.  
  
******************************************************  
  
An old man worked diligently under an engine of a   
half assembled car as she looked on from the doorway of   
the garage. Maybe a conscientious worker would have a   
pure heart, she thought to herself. She reached into the   
small red purse that matched the low cut mini-dress she   
wore. A small, oval shaped object was taken out and   
released to float towards the car as she walked away,   
her long red hair waving in the soft morning breeze.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
The morning sun woke them as it came through the   
east windows of the room. They were both on couches in   
the corner where they had spoken last night. Haruka   
growled at the bright light and rolled over to face   
away from the sunrise. She was never a morning person.   
Michiru was already up and moving, using the window   
controls to let in the gentle, fragrant breeze from the   
garden. She dragged Haruka into the kitchen and sat her   
down on a stool there as she started on cooking breakfast.   
The coffee was the first item to get started as   
Michiru fired up the espresso machine. Haruka had gotten   
the taste for it in the morning thanks to her time with   
the racing team. The stuff the mechanics brewed was as   
strong as what they put in the gas tanks. After a half   
cup was in her system, she took the copy of the morning   
paper that was on the counter and skimmed over the front   
page.   
She was fortunate she had good reflexes, for she   
caught the cup without spilling a drop just before it   
hit the counter after slipping from her fingers. She put   
it down and looked at the picture more carefully.  
" Michiru? I think you should take a look at this."  
She looked up from the cutting board and the   
onions. Seeing the concerned look on Haruka's face,   
she moved over to take a better look. She frowned   
slightly as if trying to remember something.  
' Sailor V in England ', the headline read. The   
picture was of a girl in an outfit that was amazingly   
close in spirit to what she wore as Sailor Neptune. She   
had long, blonde hair that was tied in back with a red   
ribbon and she wore a red mask.   
" She looks familiar," Michiru said while skimming   
the article.  
" I remember someone like her in my dream," Haruka   
said softly. " The other things I remember about the moon   
are hazy, but the battle itself is as clear as crystal. That   
looks like Venus."  
" Do you think the name has something to do with it?   
Sailor V? Sailor Venus? Also, look here. There's a crescent   
moon. This is too much to be coincidence, Haruka."  
" I know. If it is her, what does she think she's   
doing? All this publicity will tell our enemies that we're   
here."  
Michiru mulled this over for a few moments as she   
went back to her work. The onions would not chop themselves,   
and her stomach was complaining already about the lack of   
breakfast. She listened while Haruka read the article to her   
and only spoke up after the story was finished.  
" Maybe she wants the attention, Haruka. What if she's   
trying to decoy them away from this area by going to England?   
I don't think her appearance is an accident. It's dangerous,   
but it would work."  
She saw Haruka thinking about this and decided to press   
the issue. " This is starting to stretch the laws of   
probability, Haruka. We run into each other here in Tokyo.   
This 'Sailor V' shows up here, and there's a chance she's   
connected to our past. Setsuna finds us here. There's a plan   
to this somewhere. These aren't coincidences anymore."  
" I now, Michiru. I think I'm going to have to become   
Uranus..." her voice trailed off expectantly and she sighed   
after a few moments.  
" What's wrong, Haruka?" Michiru said as she poured   
the beaten eggs into a pan for the first omelet.   
" I was half hoping that the scepter to show up when   
I said that. Maybe I'm not really ready."  
" You'll come around. I believe in you, even if you   
don't."  
Haruka put aside the paper after a few more moments   
and waited patiently while Michiru cooked. The sports section had   
dropped her like a rock after the announcement. It was the big   
story for one day and vanished the next. She had hoped her   
friend had seen it, but she had given no sign of it.  
It was only after breakfast that she decided to tell   
Michiru. She finished her second cup of coffee and began   
picking up the dishes since Michiru had cooked this morning.   
" I have to go to the team's garage in a little bit,   
Michiru. I need to talk to Yamagata and explain something to   
him. I'd rather do it in person. I left the team, Michiru."  
" Haruka!" she gasped. " Why? It was so important to   
you."  
" I couldn't keep racing and be Uranus, Michiru. I   
wouldn't have the time to do both. I was afraid that you'd   
get hurt if I did either thing halfway. I can give up the   
racing. I won't give up you."  
Michiru came up from behind and put her arms around   
her waist as she was putting the dishes in the sink. Haruka   
stiffened for a moment, and then relaxed into the embrace.   
She liked the feeling of familiarity between the two. She   
felt safe in letting down the guard she kept up against the   
rest of the world when she was with Michiru.   
" Haruka, I want you to do this, but I want you to do   
it for yourself. I'm happy that you feel strongly enough   
about me to be concerned, but this has to be done for the   
right reasons. You need to do it for yourself or the doubt   
will eat away at you forever. I don't want that to happen   
to you. I don't want you hurting like that."  
  
*************************************************  
  
" Matthew, I have a simple task for you," he said to   
the tiny image of the apprentice that floated above a basin   
of water. " There will be an incident in your area in a few   
hours. Don't ask me why it's happening or how I know. All   
I want you to do is to go to the shops at this address and   
observe the fight that will probably occur. Take one of   
those video camera things and record the events and bring   
the record of it to me as soon as it is over.   
" I have Marcus at the same location, so disguise   
yourself appropriately. He will get involved in some way   
in this fight at my orders, and I want records of that as   
well as the fight. Do not get involved. Do not take part   
in the fray. Do you understand?"  
" Yes, Archmage. Attend, observe and do not get   
involved."   
He dismissed the image with a wave and tapped the   
side of the gold basin with his finger, causing a ripple   
in the water. That would keep anyone from trying to observe   
him through the basin or the residual magic of the spell he   
just used. He leaned back in his chair and smiled. This   
could be interesting.  
Lady Luck had smiled on him. It looked like two of   
his foes in Japan were going to run into one another today.   
He'd be able to see what they could do to each other. One   
of his apprentices would try to ambush the timewalker to   
test her. Another would watch from the sidelines.  
He had not told Matthew the entire truth, of course.   
His students would think he was smart to have an observer   
who was independent of the participant, but in reality, he   
had more than two strings to his bow in everything he did.   
He just didn't let them know the full extent of his spies   
that watched them.   
  
**************************************************   
  
Haruka had been gone an hour when Setsuna arrived   
at Michiru's. She met Pluto at the garage where she parked   
her Jaguar and the two walked through the gardens on their   
way to a secluded bench. Setsuna looked tired and drawn to   
Michiru, who refused to discuss business until she made tea   
and some sandwiches for the older woman.  
" You're exhausted, Setsuna." Michiru said as she   
poured for them.  
" Thank you, Michiru. I've been working hard the last   
several days. It was difficult, but I think I have a lead   
on the source of these monsters."  
" That's not the only thing. The papers have been   
full of stories on this 'Sailor V' running around here   
and in England. Haruka thinks she might be Venus." Michiru   
handed a folded paper and a plate to Setsuna, who read while   
eating.  
" I think I know why this happened," Setsuna replied,   
tapping the newspaper after a few minutes. " I was expecting   
a reaction from something I did the night I first spoke to you,   
but this certainly wasn't it. I'll have to look into it. Whoever   
she is, there certainly is a resemblance. How has Haruka been   
handling things?"  
" I think she'll come around, Setsuna. She gave up her   
spot on her racing team. That was very important to her, so I   
would say that her doing that would signify that she is ready."   
Setsuna heard something in Michiru's voice that told her   
she wasn't telling her everything about Haruka. Michiru had   
blushed for a brief moment while speaking of Haruka, and had   
refused to meet her eyes.  
" What else were you going to say about her, Michiru?"  
Michiru blushed again and waited a moment before answering   
to regain her composure.   
" She had said she would do it to keep me from being hurt."  
Setsuna, keeping any sign of it from showing, smiled   
to herself at this. She hadn't been around for over two   
thousand years and helped raise several dozen 'sisters' for   
nothing. Now wasn't the time to press these two on this. They   
needed some time to adjust to their relationship now that they   
both knew that the feelings were mutual.   
" She'll be all right, Michiru. She'll come around." She   
put her hand on Michiru's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. " The   
real reason I came here is that I think I've found a way to   
track down our opposition."  
" You have! Who are they?" Michiru said, startled at the   
news. The look on Setsuna's face dampened her initial excitement.   
" I still haven't found out who they are. All I can come   
up with is a way to spot them. You're the key to it, Neptune."  
Michiru took the hint and pulled her scepter out of her   
space. Water geysered up from the ground, subsided, and left   
her standing there as Sailor Neptune. The fading purple light   
to her left let her know that Setsuna had likewise changed   
into Sailor Pluto.  
" Close your eyes," Pluto said as she moved to behind   
the other while removing a map, pen, and a small compass from   
her purse that was still on the bench. " I want you to relax   
and just float there for a few minutes." She continued to   
talk to the other in the same soft voice while the orb on   
her staff glowed softly.   
After several minutes, she was in a basic, low level   
trance. " That's very good, Michiru. Now, I want you to open   
up your mind to everything around you and look at the garden,   
but not with your eyes. Imagine what a garden _feels_ like to   
you. You're a very good painter. You should be able to imagine   
what it feels like. Do you have it, Michiru?"   
The younger girl nodded after a few more moments, the   
breeze tugging at a lock of turquoise hair.   
" Now, Michiru, I want you to extend your imagination   
to include me. Do you see how I stand out from the garden? That   
same kind of difference is what you're looking for. Don't try   
for anything else, just look for something that seems different   
or out of place to your feelings. Just imagine the city that   
is all around you. Look at what seems wrong to you about the   
city."  
Neptune turned slowly in a circle, twice calling out to   
indicate two different directions. Pluto noted these with the   
compass and made a small line in the opposite direction on   
the map from the bearings on the compass. She brought the   
other out of the trance after double checking by repeating   
the test.  
" You'll soon be able to do that without the trance,   
Michiru. You should also start to get a feel of how far away   
the disturbance is so you can zero in on it." She held out   
the map to the other. " Just remember, the actual direction   
is exactly opposite of the one you feel when you do this with   
your eyes closed. It's like you're looking at everything in a   
mirror when you do it like that. If something is funny to the   
south, check out the north. Those marks are already switched   
around. What do you think the targets are?"  
Michiru studied the map for a long minute.   
" This one probably indicates this mall. There are   
going to be a number of people there, just like the other   
incident. It's probably after concentrations of people. I'm   
not sure about the other one. The line doesn't go near any   
places where people will be out in numbers today."  
Michiru continued to examine the map. Setsuna was about   
to suggest they try another attempt from a different location   
to narrow it down when Michiru gasped. She looked up to see   
the color drain from the younger girl's face and the map   
slip from her grasp.  
" The racetrack... Haruka!" she cried out as she   
broke into a dead run for the garage with Pluto a step   
behind her.   
  
****************************************************  
  
" I'm sorry, Yamagata."  
" I still don't get it, Haruka. You busted your butt   
for over three years to get here and now you're just   
walking away. You wouldn't do it just to go back to   
school like you said. Will you tell me what's wrong so   
I can help?"   
She sighed to herself. This wasn't going as well   
as she thought it would. She walked around the car and   
helped him put away the tools he was fumbling with due   
to his anger. He knew something was up, but she didn't   
dare tell him the truth.   
" Nothing is wrong. I'm taking a short sabbatical   
to finish high school. I thought I could keep on doing it,   
but now I think I'm wrong. I already talked to Takashi.   
They want me back as soon as possible. He says the guy   
who will be running the racing department in a year is   
very open to new ideas and might like the idea of a female   
driver. I'm tired of the lie, Yama. I just want to get on   
with school and then go back to the circuit."  
" Dammit, Haruka, tell me the truth!" he yelled at   
her as he turned and walked over the car. He must have   
been ticked, she thought as he drew back his foot and   
kicked the tire.  
Red light erupted from the car as it blurred for a   
moment and turned into a strange amalgamation of the car   
and a woman. The tires were now on each side of it's feet   
and the radiator and fenders were lashed on by the engine   
belts like odd pieces of mismatched armor. A headlight   
covered one eye like a monocle.   
Both were surprised by the cackling apparition before   
them, but Haruka recovered first as it moved towards Yamagata.   
She ran in, dropped her shoulder and slammed into it from the   
side. She caromed off, reeling in pain and stumbled towards a   
pile of tires in a corner. That thing is as hard as steel, she   
thought as she screamed at her muscles to obey her.  
They didn't respond, or the fog of pain from her shoulder   
kept her from stopping. The thing lashed out with the timing   
chain, using it like a whip and sent her headfirst into the   
tires. The breath went out of her from the force of the blow   
and it was almost too much to turn to see what it was   
doing. Yamagata had grabbed a long wrench and was swinging   
wildly at it. She could see there wasn't any point. He was   
tiring quickly.  
The chain whipped out and wrapped around his arm   
and sent the wrench flying. It pinned him against the   
wall and turned slightly, swinging it's left hip so it   
pointed at the old man. There was a click and a circular   
panel popped up to reveal a black star on it's hip.  
A beam of black light slammed into Yamagata's chest,   
causing a spherical glow to appear. Haruka gasped as a four   
pointed crystal came out of his chest. It was a fragile   
looking thing, ruby red and softly glowing as it floated   
to the monster. The old man hoarsely cried out as it left   
him, and slumped over, ceasing his struggles.  
It grabbed the crystal and began to gloat as it   
looked at the still form in front of it.  
The chain unwrapped and let the body fall to the floor.   
" Kaolinite will be pleased." it said in a shrill   
voice that reverberated like a engine at full speed. It   
was starting to turn to leave just as Haruka began to   
push herself up to-  
" Deep Submerge!" Michiru's clear voice rang out,   
sounding like an angel to her as a ringed ball of blue   
energy tore into the thing from behind. It was slammed   
into the wall, leaving a depression shaped like it's outline.   
The crystal was sent flying out the main door of the garage.   
Haruka managed to reach her feet as her friend rushed over to   
her.  
" Haruka! Are you all right?"  
She slumped back down onto the pile as her knees   
buckled underneath her. Michiru was trying to help her up.  
" I'm all right, Michi-... I'm all right, Neptune.   
Don't worry about me, O.K.? It's getting back up." Neptune   
turned back to face the monster as Haruka's mind worked   
furiously.  
There, she'd admitted it. Her friend was no longer   
just Michiru Kaioh. She was Sailor Neptune. Her own duty   
was clear to her now. She would accept it, just like her   
friend had. She wasn't just Haruka Ten'ou. She closed her   
eyes and concentrated on the thought with all of her heart   
and mind, the images of her past life singing their siren   
song to her soul.   
I_am_Sailor_Uranus!  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Neptune slipped under the chain and kicked it in   
the chest. It was rocked back a little bit and had to   
stop for a moment to steady itself. She used the hesitation   
to jump back and gather herself for another attack. The   
words died on her lips as she saw the glowing scepter   
appear in front of Haruka, the sigil of Uranus shining   
on her forehead.  
" No, Haruka! If you take that, your life will   
change. Rem-"  
The words were cut off as the thing slammed into   
Neptune, it's spinning tires covering the ground before   
she could react but for bringing up her arms to try and   
block the attack. It grabbed her to keep her from being   
flung away and crashed into the wall, crushing her between   
the two.  
Michiru's scream of pain gave her the resolve she   
needed. She grabbed the scepter and forced herself to her   
feet. She'd gone cold inside instead of the heat of rage   
she had expected, a harsh, grim chill that drove her emotions   
away from her. Her right hand reached out while clutching the   
scepter and she spun around in a circle as yellow light rose   
up from the ground around her.  
" Uranus Planet Power, Make-up!"  
Her clothes dissolved around her in the light and were   
replaced by an outfit similar to what Neptune wore, a short   
skirt with a white top and a ribbon in a bow on her chest. There   
was a matching tiara on her forehead from the weight of the metal   
she felt there. The thing must have heard or felt something,   
for it turned to face her and snarled. The tires began to spin   
and smoke as they sought purchase for another rush forward. Uranus   
just smiled, a slight grin with no trace of humor in it.  
" It's time for round two, bitch! World Shaking!"  
She thrust her hand up, fingers spread out and grabbed   
the ball of seething, crackling yellow energy that was suddenly   
there. She slammed it into the ground as the thing started   
forward to run her down. A ringed sphere of yellow tore   
through the concrete towards the onrushing monster and flung   
it into the far corner as it convulsed from some terrible   
force and was flung apart.  
The battered remnants of the car remained where it   
had hit the wall. A small, egg-shaped object fell out of   
the side of it to fall on the concrete with an audible   
click. It rolled around for a few moments and split in half,   
releasing a monstrous looking puff of thin black smoke that   
dissolved away with a quiet wail.   
Uranus ran over to Neptune, who had slid to the ground   
and was sitting with her back to the wall while weakly   
coughing. They took each other's hands and held them for   
a moment.  
" Haruka, I'm so proud of you. You did it. I'm glad   
you're with me."  
" Are you hurt?"  
" No," Neptune said as she moved forward to kneel   
with Uranus' assistance. " It just knocked the wind out   
of me. I don't know why, but we're a lot tougher like this."  
" Good." Uranus said and enfolded Neptune in a firm   
embrace, careful to not squeeze her too hard, just in   
case. " I feel wonderful. I was being real silly about   
this, wasn't I?"  
" You were, Haruka. It's all right now, though. Thank   
you."  
Uranus pulled them both to their feet and looked around   
at the damage when it hit her.  
" Yamagata!" she cried as she ran to the still form of   
the old man. He was so pale he was almost gray colored and was   
barely breathing. " That thing took something from him, some   
kind of crystal. Whatever it is, it must be important. I think   
he's dying."  
" It went out the door when I hit it, Haruka."   
Uranus ran to the door and slid to a stop, reaching   
an arm out to keep Neptune from following. A woman was   
picking up the crystal about twenty feet in front of them. She   
stood up and straightened the hem of her short red dress with   
one hand as she examined the glowing object in the other.   
" It's a pity, you know. He just has an ordinary heart   
crystal, after all that dedicated work for all those years. I   
was hoping he'd have a talisman."   
" Give me that!" cried Uranus. " He's dying without it.   
What do you have against him?"  
" It's nothing personal, my dear. He'll die anyway at   
some point. We can make better use of it than he ever will."  
Uranus started forward with a snarl of rage, her earlier   
calm forgotten. The woman stopped her by putting her other hand   
on the crystal and slightly pushing one part. She could hear the   
loud groan from inside the building.  
" I wouldn't do that, if I were you. These are somewhat   
fragile, and if it breaks he'll be dead."  
The stand-off was broken as a blue sphere bowled the   
redhead over from behind as Neptune stepped out from a driveway   
behind the woman and gave her a 'Deep Submerge' at point blank   
range. The force of the attack sent Neptune flying back   
several feet, but she carefully rolled with it and came to   
her feet. Uranus charged in, but the woman on the ground was   
quicker.  
She vanished and reappeared on the roof of the   
garage. They could both hear the sound of the crystal   
breaking as she crushed it with a cruel grin on her face   
and let the shards fall down to the street.   
" I told you not to do that. They're fragile, you   
know." She laughed and vanished again into thin air. Neptune   
looked around for signs of another attack, but Uranus was   
already back in the garage, kneeling by the cooling body with   
tears running down her face.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
The mall looked very peaceful, she concluded as   
she finished walking up and down the length of it for   
the second time. There was no sign of any problems, but   
that could change at a moments notice. The replica of   
Michaelangelo's David had looked very normal until it   
got up and started attacking the crowd.   
She had changed back to her regular clothes before   
driving away from Michiru's to drop her off by the   
racetrack. They had decided to split up to cover both   
locations. This spot seemed to be a false alarm, however.  
While she was purchasing a can of mocha coffee in   
a gift shop, she thought she felt something unusual, but   
she didn't see anything out of the ordinary when she walked   
back along the row of shops. She opened the can and had   
the chance to drink about a half of it while walking when   
the panic began.  
She stepped into a maintenance corridor as a group   
of people ran past her while screaming. It was time, she   
thought as she quickly finished the can in one un-ladylike   
gulp and changed to Sailor Pluto. The majority of the   
people had gone past her, so she stepped out and walked the   
way they came.   
The source of the problem today was another statue.   
At least this one had clothing, she thought with a wry grin.   
This one was a samurai in full armor, brandishing a naginata,   
with the two sword set common from that period stuffed in his   
belt. It had just finished frightening a security guard, but   
she didn't see any sign that it had done anything else.  
She hefted the empty can and bounced it off of the   
back of it's helmet. It spun around with a cry of rage, the   
naginata at the ready, eager to punish any foolish enough to   
interrupt it.  
" You've got a lot of nerve attacking these people,"   
she said to it in an almost conversational tone of   
voice. " And on my coffee break, also." She'd prefer to   
blast it, but she had to see if she could get some   
information from it. They were still in the dark about the   
motives of their enemies.   
It snarled again and rushed her, slashing with the   
blade of the pole arm. It must not be the talkative type. She   
reached out with her staff and deflected it slightly upwards   
at the beginning of the swing, enabling her to duck under it   
when it got to her. She reversed the direction of her swing   
and sent the naginata off down the hall to land in a   
fake potted plant with a disarming technique not seen since   
the fifth century.  
The samurai leaped back to avoid the attack that   
followed her disarm. It howled in rage, drew the katana,   
took a deep breath and split into three parts, all   
duplicates of the first. It was an interesting trick,   
she thought, but it took more to-  
A sudden premonition made her swing her staff   
around behind her and it shuddered in her grip as a   
blast of black light was deflected by the orb. A shiver   
ran down her spine to her toes and settled back in her   
heart. That had been a blast of temporal energy.   
She turned her back on the three samurai to look   
around the mall for her new foe. The three reacted   
predictably, running in to attack. She let them get another   
step closer, and then put the butt end of the staff under   
her arm so that it was pointed behind her. She looked   
defenseless, at least to them.   
" Dead Scream," she softly whispered as a sphere of   
violet light flew out behind her, expanding to destroy the   
three samurai. She didn't have time for the little stuff   
right know. The use of a temporal attack scared her. She   
hadn't thought that anyone could do that except her.   
No further attacks came. The two duplicate samurai   
were gone, destroyed by her attack. The first had gone back   
to the original pose it had been in, except that it was   
resting flat on the ground about fifty feet from the pedestal   
it had been on. A small, egg-shaped object fell out of it   
to break in two on the ground.  
The blast had been a random gathering of fragments   
of temporal energy. If it had hit her, she'd have been   
ripped apart and scattered piece by piece over hundreds of   
years and miles. This wasn't good. She should be the only   
person able to do anything like this. If they could do this,   
she'd have to spend all her time guarding the passageways to   
keep them from traveling in time. Neptune would have to do it   
alone until Uranus came around. She didn't dare let her guard   
down.  
She knew the location of the racetrack well enough,   
and Michiru had pointed out the garage itself. The orb on   
her staff glowed as she used it to trace out a circular   
opening in the air in front of her. The gate brought her   
in a few feet high, but she was at the garage. Uranus had   
just stood up when she walked in. At her feet was the body   
of an old man.  
" He's dead, Pluto. A monster took this from him." She   
held out her hand, the fragments of the heart crystal now dark   
and dull. It didn't shine like the ones she had seen in the   
past. " A woman crushed it. She called it a heart crystal. She   
had said she was hoping to find a talisman. What the hell is   
going on here?"  
" I'm sorry, Uranus." She replied, meeting the angry   
glare from the young woman. It was happening again. They   
would need her help, and she couldn't be there for them. It   
seemed like a story that would keep on repeating itself. " I   
don't know yet. I'm going to have to leave you two for a period   
of time. I'll try to figure out what is happening. I think I   
know what the talismans could be, but I need to research it."  
" Why are you just running away, Pluto?" Uranus growled   
at her. " Are you going to hide away and let the rest of us die   
again?"   
" Haruka!" gasped Michiru, surprised at the angry   
words from her friend. She stepped forward and put her   
hand on Haruka's arm to try and calm her. " Stop it. You   
don't have any right to say this. You know what her duty   
is."  
Uranus continued to glare at Pluto for several   
moments more, and then sighed and turned away to start   
pacing back and forth.  
" Are you done, Uranus?" Pluto said coldly. " You   
know what I have to do. Do you think I like having to watch   
what happens? I helped raise all of you. I watched you all   
grow up. I was there to hold your hands when you learned to walk.   
" I fixed up the skinned knees, held you when your   
hearts got broken, and watched you all grow old and die. Don't   
you think I hated living this long? There's only one thing   
keeping me going, Uranus. I'm the only one who can watch   
over time so that the past is not interfered with.   
" These monsters are going to keep on coming. They'll   
try to continue to take heart crystals from innocent   
people. If you let that happen, more of them will die.   
You're going to have to stop them from getting the   
crystals. You'll have to find these talismans. I have to   
protect time itself. I'll let you know what I can find   
out, but you have to stop them here. This is your duty,   
Haruka. I go now to mine."  
Pluto tapped her staff on the ground and vanished.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
The man screamed as a ball of black energy enveloped   
his body and a horrible, agonizing feeling of something   
tearing at him began.   
" Please, Master-"  
" Silence, Marcus. Suffer in silence. This is the   
same spell you used on her, directly against my orders.   
Why did you use a temporal attack against the equivalent   
of a fully trained time-mage? What gave you the idea that   
you were her equal? I have no use for your ego, Marcus."  
He tried screaming again, but a rope appeared in   
front of him and gagged him before he could make any   
noise. This pain was unbearable. Just kill me, you sick   
bastard, he screamed in his mind.  
The older man pacing back and forth in front of   
him didn't seem to notice the rope.   
" This is the same spell, with one slight difference.   
It will take you several days to be ripped apart, molecule   
by molecule. You disobeyed me, Marcus, and you made the   
target go into hiding. I won't be able to gather any more   
information about her, and you know how much I value   
information.  
" This does set me back quite a bit. I can't move   
openly until I figure out her plans and where my crystal   
is. I'll have to do things with the utmost care and secrecy,   
and that will slow me down. This will inconvenience me, so   
I'm taking your life in return. Enjoy the next week, Marcus.   
The spell will also keep you alive and awake to fully   
appreciate the effect."  
He laughed softly and walked out of the room, not   
bothering to shut the door. His other students would see   
this, and hopefully they would learn from it.  
  
***************************************************  
  
The last five months had made all the difference   
for them, Michiru thought to herself as she reviewed the   
events from earlier today. She had become a skilled fighter   
from the training she went through with Haruka in several   
different styles of martial arts. They could almost read   
the other's mind, their last teacher said, from the level   
of teamwork between the two.   
The monsters kept coming. Setsuna had gotten some   
additional information for them. The monsters were being   
made by someone. They were called daemons, and they had   
to inhabit something in order to survive. Michiru had   
come to the conclusion that they used human material as   
the basis for these in some way. That's why they had fought   
so many strange combinations of women and objects.   
They had not seen the woman in the red dress again,   
but they averaged a fight against a daemon egg every couple   
of days. Whoever or whatever was making them had the   
resources to keep churning these things out. She'd gotten   
much better at tracking the disturbance they made and could   
now zero in on it with a few moments concentration. They   
would go to the site and keep the daemon from making off   
with the heart crystal. They still hadn't found any of the   
talismans.  
Setsuna had come by to visit them a few times. Fortunately,   
she and Haruka had patched things up very quickly, and Pluto   
turned out to be a much more co-operative and friendly now   
that she saw Haruka's sincerity. The enemy was after the   
talismans in order to use them to destroy the world. The   
talismans would only be found attached to the heart crystal   
of someone with a pure heart.  
They had to keep them from doing it. The only way to   
stop it, according to Setsuna, was to get the three talismans   
into the hands of the messiah, who would destroy this evil   
that threatened the world. Since they had no clue as to the   
identity of the messiah, they had agreed to do anything   
necessary to get the talismans.   
The danger in this was that a person would die if their   
heart crystal was removed for more than several minutes. They   
would have to sacrifice three people with pure hearts in order   
to get the talismans. There was no other way than to kill them.  
It had been difficult for both of them to accept at first,   
but the continuing problem of the daemons convinced them that   
the price would be worth it. The monsters were getting smarter   
and stronger each time they encountered one, and eventually   
they would start doing more damage than killing three   
people. It was a horrible case of the end justifying the   
means, but it didn't take them long to accept it.   
Haruka came in and sat next to her, drying her hair   
with a towel. The short haircut her friend had was certainly   
easier to take care of than her hair. At least it wasn't   
as bad as the mane of hair they had seen yesterday. They   
had been hiding in a clump of trees, watching a daemon start   
to attack some children at a park. She had started forward   
to put a stop to it, but Haruka grabbed her arm and pointed   
out what she had missed. A girl had jumped down from a   
street light and attacked the monster. It was Sailor V.  
It certainly looked like the painting Haruka had   
done from her dream of the last battle on the moon. She   
had the same long blonde hair they both remembered, but   
the costume was in all the wrong colors. The ensuing   
fight went back and forth for several minutes. The girl   
kept her distance between the two, gracefully avoiding   
the blasts of water the daemon-inhabited hydrant flung   
at her. Her own attack, a slender blast of white light,   
continued to strike the now enraged monster in the same   
spot several times in a row. It foolishly charged and   
the fight was over. It was tripped up by a leg sweep   
from the girl, who jammed her hand against the weakened   
section and finished it off at point blank range with a   
final blast.   
They had been too far away to hear what she had   
yelled as she attacked, due to the noise from the police   
and camera crews that had arrived moments after the fight   
began. Sailor V, after checking that the children were all   
right, had left the scene to the disappointment of the crowd.   
They had hoped to follow her and find out who she was, but   
lost her trying to circle around the park.  
Today, they had a close call with a daemon that nearly   
got away from them. It had taken them nearly an hour chasing   
the thing on Haruka's motorcycle to catch and destroy it. The   
discovery that it was only an ordinary heart crystal had   
depressed them after the long chase. Worse, they had been   
delayed long enough that the victim had not recovered right   
away when they brought the crystal back. They had spent   
several hours lurking around the hospital, waiting for   
the baby girl to regain consciousness and pretending to   
be concerned neighbors. She had finally woken up, but the   
doctor, a pediatrics specialist with long, black hair, told   
them that there might be complications from the brief coma   
the girl had apparently been in.   
Haruka had stormed out of the hospital, furious at   
the things for doing this to an innocent baby. Michiru   
had ran along with her, using all her skill to keep her   
friend from exploding in rage while in the hospital. Neither   
had noticed the doctor who had treated the child talking to a   
young girl with short, blue hair.  
  
****************************************************  
  
She was in the office of the principal again for   
getting into another fight. Some of the boys on the   
baseball team had dragged a girl off under the bleachers   
after school that day. She had seen this, and had ran over   
to put a stop to it. She knew that she'd probably get   
into trouble for this, but she couldn't stand things   
like this and refused to let it happen.  
She came in from behind the group and used the   
surprise to her advantage. Some of the teachers arrived   
a few minutes after the screaming started. They had found   
several bruises, black eyes and a broken bone among the   
boys lying on the ground. The wrestling teacher had   
grabbed her and pulled her off of the instigator of this   
just as she got a good hold on his neck. The girl had   
escaped with only a torn blouse and a few bruises.   
After the dust settled and all the involved parties   
had been interrogated by the principal, she had been   
informed of his decision to expel her for starting a fight   
with the boys. She was shocked by this biased interpretation   
of the events and had told him so.   
" They're getting away with this because they're on   
the varsity team, right? You sick old man. Just because they're   
a bunch of star players they can get away with anything. This   
is disgusting! You're disgusting for letting this happen!   
Fine, expel me." She had yelled at him and then slammed the   
door to his office and walked away while keeping the tears   
from showing.  
She was getting her things from her locker when   
one of her teachers found her.   
It was her English teacher, Mr. Hamilton. He was an   
American who had taught for several years in Japan.   
She always enjoyed his class, and her skills had gotten   
much better in her short time here. Her previous teachers   
in this subject had not done a good job with her.   
" Makoto, I'm glad I found you." he said in his   
thick accent. His Japanese was as good as a native, but   
he had an accent that was as bad as hers was in English. " I   
heard about what happened. I wanted to let you know that   
I'm sorry about it.   
" The girl decided not to press charges, Makoto. If   
she did, she would have to admit what had happened. This   
way, nothing did happen to her. You kept her from being   
hurt, but you're the one paying for it. I'm sorry that   
it's not fair, but you did the right thing."  
" I know, Mr. Hamilton. This will be another   
school I've been kicked out of. My parents are going to   
kill me." The lie hurt, for she liked this man. " I'll have   
to find another school."  
" Makoto, you moved a few months ago, right? I know   
the principal over at a school in Juban. I'll write him a   
letter and explain what happened. I should be able to get   
you in without any real problems."  
  
*******************************************************  
  
Haruka finished drying Michiru's hair. The chase   
today had left them covered with dust and grit from the   
roads and the parks it had led them through. It had taken   
her several washings to get it all out of her hair, and   
Michiru's had been in worse shape. She now really appreciated   
the helmet and leathers she normally wore while on her motorcycle.  
" I called Dr Mizuno while you were in the shower,   
Michiru. She said the child is slowly getting better. Her   
signs are up from earlier. She thinks the girl will be all   
right."  
" That's good. I was still worrying about her."   
" I know. You weren't as obvious about it, but I could   
tell you were upset. Thanks for keeping me from blowing up back   
there at the hospital."  
Michiru nodded. They both went to sit on a bench in the   
garden and look at the city lights that were just starting to   
glow as the sunset approached. It wasn't until after it had set   
that Haruka stood and pulled the other to her feet.   
" Try a reading, Michiru. I want to see if you still get   
the same results on something."  
She nodded, closed her eyes for a moment, opened them   
again and looked around her at the lights below. One place   
had stood out, just like it had for a few days.  
" The castle again, Haruka." she said with a sigh. She   
kept getting a bad feeling from it, but it wasn't the same   
as when she felt the daemons.  
" Good. I pulled a few strings in case you were   
right." Haruka reached into her jacket and pulled out a   
pair of tickets. " It's a European themed banquet hall   
that opened up a few months ago. They're having a charity   
event tonight. It's a masquerade and the white and lavender   
dress of yours will go wonderfully with a matching tux I   
bought this morning, just in case. We'll mix business with   
a bit of pleasure and get you to unwind a little bit."  
Michiru smiled as they got up to walk back into the   
house. She was already feeling better at the thought of a   
night out. They'd been doing too much fighting recently.  
" Every time I think I've got you figured out, Haruka,   
you go ahead and surprise me. How did you ever get tickets   
this late for this place? That charity is a big one. They'll   
be packed and the upper crust will be fighting like cats and   
dogs over the tickets."  
" My dad's got a nice catering contract there. They   
owe him for saving their butts when the original caterer   
pulled out the morning of their first event. At least we'll   
have good food tonight. Go and get dressed. I've got the   
masks in my car."  
  
*******************************************************  
  
" Naru-chan, I'm so excited. This will be so much   
fun! There will be a bunch of gorgeous guys there, and   
dancing, and all the food we can eat. I'm going to be in   
heaven!!" the blond girl said, piling her two long streams   
of hair up on her head and securing them temporarily with   
a pin. She had already finished putting on most of her   
make-up and started to put on the white gown she would   
wear that night.  
" Calm down, Usagi. It's just a charity event, not a   
real party. We'll have to listen to a bunch of boring speeches   
and the only guys there will be a bunch of old businessmen. I   
don't think it will be that good. It is nice to be able to   
dress up and go out, though," the other replied. She was a bit   
shorter then her friend, with medium length hair that was   
just a shade too brown to be auburn. Her green gown would   
set off her hair tonight, she thought as she tried to head   
off the exuberance of her companion.   
Usagi had a tendency to get clumsy when she was   
excited and Naru didn't want to end up with Usagi ruining   
the evening somehow. She knew she wouldn't mean to, as   
Usagi didn't have any intentions of such a thing. Still,   
she had a good track record for mixing clumsiness combined   
with the best of intentions and ending up with chaos.  
The two girls continued putting on their make-up and   
gowns. Naru's mother had loaned them several pieces of   
jewelry to wear for the night. They would both look   
wonderful tonight.  
  
****************************************************  
  
" Ami! Wait!"  
She turned to see a classmate running up to her   
as she walked back to her house. Her mother had to   
cancel their plans for the night. One of her patients   
today, an infant girl, was still in serious condition   
and her mother had wanted to stay and watch her for a   
little while longer.  
" Hi, Kimiko. How are you?"  
" I'm fine, Ami. I'm going to a charity ball   
tonight with some of my friends to look at some of   
the celebrities who will be there and see what they're   
wearing. We were going to go to a movie after that. Would   
you like to come along?"  
" I'm sorry, Kimiko, but I have to study for the   
test tomorrow. Thank you for asking me."  
" O.K., Ami. I wish you could come along. I'll see   
you tomorrow." She turned and ran back the way she had   
came. What was with this new girl? She always had the   
best scores. Surely, she could afford to take some time   
off. She must be a snob, she thought, always thinking   
herself better than anyone else because of her grades. That   
would be the last time she tried to be nice to the genius   
girl.  
Ami resumed her walk home. She had wanted to go, but   
her mother would probably be transferred away again soon   
and she'd have to leave another group of friends behind. It   
would be easier here if she didn't make any.  
  
****************************************************  
  
The speeches were thankfully over and the dancing   
had begun. Scores of couples were moving around the room   
to the accompaniment of a small string ensemble in the   
corner. Michiru had winced at hearing one of the violin   
players and sought out the conductor, who was a friend of   
her father's. They had conferred a few moments and Michiru   
had taken over the violinist's place so she could work with   
the others for a few numbers.  
Haruka stood on a balcony overlooking the dance floor.   
It was turning out to be a nice evening. The crowd was   
surprisingly young tonight. She watched several couples   
happily dancing for a few minutes.  
They hadn't been able to tell that she was not a man.   
Her tuxedo and height had done the trick again, along with   
the help of a sports bra. Nobody had even looked at her and   
Michiru with anything other than envy at the lovely couple   
they made. She was smiling at the success of the trick when   
she noticed the wallflower.   
The girl was pretty, and wore an elaborate white gown   
with a modest neckline compared to some of the women here   
tonight. Her mask covered her eyes and part of her face   
but did nothing to hide the beauty there. In a few years,   
the guys would be lining up to chase this one. She decided   
to go down and entertain herself while Michiru played. The   
wallflower was still there and still alone when she reached   
the dance floor.   
" May I have this dance, my princess?"  
She whisked the young girl onto the floor and smoothly   
began to lead them in the slow waltz that was playing.   
  
****************************************************  
  
Usagi had been furious with Naru for abandoning   
her. She had left her to go chasing a young man who had   
seemed to be attracted her. She quickly forgave her friend,   
however. They had come there to have fun, and she wasn't   
really mad at Naru for going off with the boy. He had been   
sort of cute. She might have done the same.  
The couples on the floor were twirling around the   
room. She had wanted to dance, but there was a scarcity   
of unattached boys here tonight. The buffet was already   
shut down, except for the rich, dense chocolate torte they   
had served for dessert. She would have gone back for more,  
but the servers had looked at her strangely when she got   
her third piece.   
She had just about given up and was going to get   
another piece of cake when a vision appeared before   
her. He was tall and handsome with sandy blond hair   
and wore a dreamy white tuxedo. The mask concealed little   
of his face and she could have fallen into the depths of   
those green eyes.  
" May I have this dance, my princess?" he had said,   
and swept her onto the floor. Even his voice was lovely,   
and his dancing was divine. He carefully led them into the   
waltz, his skill and strong arms keeping her from making   
any mistakes or stepping on his feet. She could almost feel   
her eyes turning into hearts.  
Luck was smiling on her tonight, it seemed. The music   
moved into an extended piece featuring a beautiful violinist   
and she got to spend even more time with this incredible   
hunk. They continued to glide around the room as she   
wondered if she would ever be so happy again in her life.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
It was the same dream again. He was roaming through   
the dark, abandoned castle in a tuxedo. This time, a voice   
came to him. A woman's voice, clear and beautiful. She was   
imploring him to find her and protect her. He turned around   
to see a figure standing on a high balcony. She wore a white   
gown, and he could see her long blonde hair, just like the   
two strands from the first time he had this dream. The light   
behind her blurred her features so he couldn't see her face   
clearly.   
Right on cue, the pain came. He staggered backward   
from it, and bumped into a wall. The lights and sounds   
washed over him. He now stood behind a pillar near the   
wall of an elaborate ballroom. Couples danced around in   
the center of the room and a group of musicians were   
finishing a waltz that he knew the melody of.   
He was dressed like most of the men here, in a black   
tuxedo with a mask. The mirror near him told him the rest.   
He also wore a long, red-lined cape. Thankfully, this was   
one place where the clothes he wore in the dream would fit   
in.   
One couple stood out from the rest. The man wore   
a white tuxedo that had caught his eye at first, but the   
girl in his arms held them there. His heart skipped a beat.   
This had to be the girl from his dreams.   
She was beautiful. Her long blonde hair swept around   
just above the floor as they continued to dance past the   
end of the tune and through the applause for the violinist   
taking a bow. The girl had on a white gown, just like the   
woman in his dream. Her blue eyes and the dazzling smile   
she wore as she gazed up at the young man captured his heart.  
He stood transfixed, staring at the two for several   
moments before he decided to take the chance. This was a   
chance to find out why he was having the dream. Maybe she   
could tell him who he was.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
Haruka had heard the single note that Michiru had   
faltered slightly on. She turned to look at her quickly,   
swinging the young girl around suddenly to cover the   
motion, and caught Michiru's slight nod. She had sensed   
something. The piece was drawing to a close. They would   
have to get out of here and investigate this.  
  
****************************************************  
  
Usagi was still in heaven as the dance ended. She   
would have sworn that her feet never touched the ground   
throughout the number. He even kept moving with her after the   
music stopped. They had continued the dance for about a half   
a minute when reality finally intruded.  
" May I cut in, my princess?" another young man came   
up and tapped her gently on her bare shoulder. He was as   
gorgeous as the first, his dark hair matching the black tuxedo   
he wore. His eyes were hidden by a white mask and the whole   
outfit was perfectly accented by a long, red-lined cape.   
I've died, she thought. I've died, gone to heaven   
and a pair of angels want to be with me. She sighed   
happily, lost in her thoughts as the two men looked at   
each other.   
Time seemed to stop as the images of the two men   
swam before her eyes. The light from the chandelier above   
them silvered the black hair of the latecomer for a moment   
and it seemed as if she was looking at the same man in two   
different sets of clothes. Her heart leaped in her chest.   
They seemed so familiar to her somehow. A feeling of   
loneliness and longing rushed into her like an unstoppable   
tide and retreated only when the music started and one of   
them moved while the world started again.  
" I don't mind if you do," the one in white said with   
a twinkle in his eye as he grabbed the other man and started   
to swing him around in the steps of the waltz.  
Usagi was so startled by this she didn't know if she wanted   
to laugh at the comical scene and the expression on the   
black-clad angel or cry that her two suitors were gone.  
She was just about to protest this when her hand was   
taken and she was led into the dance herself. She gasped   
in surprise when she realized her new partner was the   
violinist who had played earlier. Usagi hoped she would   
someday look as beautiful as the woman she danced with. Her   
turquoise hair was a perfect match for the white and lavender   
dress and her gentle, mischievous smile put Usagi at ease even   
though she was dancing with another woman.   
" Don't worry, princess," she whispered at Usagi. " You'll   
be with him soon enough." They had quickly moved towards the   
two men, who were now near one wall of the room and a door.   
As if on cue, the two leading cut sharply towards each other   
while starting a spin. When it was done, Usagi was dancing   
with the surprised young man in the black tuxedo as the other   
two spun again and came to a stop, the man holding the woman's   
hand high in the air.  
" I'm sorry, my princess and prince, but duty calls." the   
man said with a grin as he bowed with an elaborate flourish and   
the woman did a curtsy laden with all the dignity and charm she   
would never, ever dream of having. They quickly moved through   
the door and vanished from her sight.  
Usagi continued dancing with the man in black she now   
held. She looked into his eyes for a few moments, lost in the   
moment and the feeling of belonging that overcame her. Her   
eyes closed as she sighed happily and rested her cheek on his   
chest. He was just the right height, she thought to herself,   
as her head rested just under his chin.  
They continued together like that through the rest of   
the dance, moving in perfect harmony with each other. It was   
only when the music ended that her emotions overcame her and   
she fainted, her partner slowly and tenderly lowering her to   
the floor.  
  
******************************************************  
  
He wanted to speak to her as they suddenly were   
together and the other couple left. He had tried, but   
his mind failed him upon looking into those impossibly   
deep blue eyes. It was all he could do to keep dancing   
with her when she sighed and rested her cheek on his chest,   
closing her eyes. Somehow, he kept moving as a feeling of   
peace swept over him. Talking to her and finding out what   
was happening didn't seem quite as important when she was   
in his arms.   
The music started to come to a close, and the   
sensation that he feared was beginning. Whatever had   
brought him here was starting to pull him back. He fought   
it as long as he could, but he barely had enough time to   
lower her to the floor when she swooned before he was   
dragged away back to his reality.   
" Farewell, my princess," he whispered as he left.  
  
******************************************************  
  
" Just a few more minutes, Mom. I'll get up. I   
promise."  
" Usagi Tsukino, wake up!" a voice whispered into   
her ear as she was shaken by someone. Her eyes flew open   
to reveal Naru kneeling at her side, concern on her   
face. She looked around at the ballroom and the small   
knot of people gathered around them.   
" I'm all right, everybody." she said while   
blushing and standing up. She let Naru guide her to a   
chair and sit her down while a glass of juice was pressed   
into her hand.   
" Drink that, Usagi. I keep on telling you that   
you're going to hurt yourself eating that much cake," the   
girl said as she glared at the concerned onlookers until   
they left the two alone. " Now, what really happened? I   
look over and there you are, dancing with the best looking   
guy in the place and then another one shows up and they   
practically come to blows over you."  
" It was wonderful, Naru-chan. I felt like I was   
floating."  
" I'll say. That's the first time I've ever seen   
you dance and not trip over your feet. There's hope for   
you yet, Usagi."  
  
***************************************************  
  
" Did you have fun?" Michiru teased her as they   
ran down the corridor towards the rooms in the back of   
the building. " I can't leave you alone for a minute,   
can I?"   
" They do make a cute couple together, once he   
gets over being angry at me. In here," she said as they   
ducked into a storage room and closed the door. There was   
a flash of light visible through the space between the   
door and the frame for a moment, and then it swung open   
and Sailors Neptune and Uranus ran out to find their foe.  
" Mission or not, Uranus, I don't feel like letting   
anyone lose their heart tonight."   
" You've got it, Neptune. That thing is going down   
quick. This one night, all their hearts will be safe."  
  
  
  
The End.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
All characters are copyrights of their respective holders.  
Please comments, etc. to the above e-mail address.  
  
Special thanks to the following...  
  
Naoko Takeuchi, of course.  
The depth of her creation continues to amaze me.  
  
Luna and Artemis, friendship and support.  
visit their page at   
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9897/  
  
Jackie Chiang, sage advice.  
check out her page at  
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/3741/   
  
Chris Davies, inspiration and friendly competition.  
check out his page at  
http://www/ualberta.ca/~cdavies/hmpage.html  
  
Rav Dhiraj  
  
Jupiter Knight  
  
  



End file.
